Alola! A Shrine Maiden's Adventure
by Madras Eclipse
Summary: One day, in the skies above Gensokyo, an Ultra Wormhole appears, which Reimu goes to investigate. What follows is an adventure that will tie the fates of two lands together forever, and reveal some startling truths about Gensokyo's past.
1. Preface

This work is originally hosted on Archive of Our Own. I am reposting it here so that people who do not browse AO3 may read it on this site. Chapters will be uploaded here to catch up with the story there as well as updated after they become available on that site.

This story also has a world-building appendix, which may be read below.

This story assumes the reader has moderate knowledge of both Touhou Project and Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon versions. While I will try my best to make it accessible as possible, please keep this in mind.

This story takes place in an alternate universe/portrayal of both the Touhou and Pokemon universes. Some aspects of both universes are altered to fit this story's setting. Please keep this in mind before reading.

This story incorporates aspects of/is a partial derivative work of The Dollmaker's Daughter and A Day in the Life of a Doll, both works by UnmovingGreatLibrary, with characters from those stories being central to the plot here. It is recommended that you read the former in its entirety and the latter through at least Chapter 5 before reading this story for it to best make sense.

This story contains no graphic themes, although mild swearing, references to war, crude humor and frightening imagery are found within. There are also some mild F/F relationships, though these are not central to the plot. These themes put together may not be suitable for children.

This story contains some elements from the Kirby series, although these are relatively minor and this is still chiefly a Touhou/Pokemon fic.

Original Pokemon and Pokemon regions are included as part of this fic, but they are not central to the plot and merely serve as "flavor."

Last but not least, please leave your thoughts and constructive criticism if you enjoy this story.

Now, sit back, relax, and enjoy this feature-length presentation of Alola! A Shrine Maiden's Adventure.

Appendix: /works/14824961/chapters/34307948

The Dollmaker's Daughter: /works/1150854/chapters/2332846

A Day in the Life of a Doll: /works/3173450/chapters/6892590


	2. The Shrine Maiden and the Wormhole

It was the beginning of summer.

The cherry blossoms had long since bloomed. The hot, muggy and overall oppressive climate of summer in Gensokyo was in full swing, as villagers down in the human village sought ways of cooling themselves down, from wearing as little clothing as socially acceptable in public, to resting their feet in the river, to leaving the windows open – and stuffing them to the gills with anti-youkai and fairy wards to compensate for them being open. All over, the heat and mugginess was being felt. The long days did the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion no favors, the Buddhists were trying to resist the urge to go for a high-altitude cruise on the Palanquin Ship to seek relief from the heat, and on the Youkai Mountain, the horseflies... oh God the horseflies. In fact, the doctor of the Bamboo Forest was busy formulating and selling insect repellent, since just because you're a youkai or a celestial or a goddess, that doesn't protect you from biting ticks and mosquitoes. It was barely July, and already she'd gotten many cases of Lyme disease and West Nile from careless bamboo cutters and the like. It was so hot, even the fairies didn't feel like playing, and instead lounged on the shores of the Misty Lake, where Cirno made them crushed ice baths to stick their feet in. If there was one area where she wasn't an idiot, it was making sure her fellow fairies didn't succumb to heat stroke.

When it wasn't hot, it was storming cats and dogs. Torrential rain, lighting, and strong winds were a common feature of the monsoon season in Gensokyo, and it wasn't unusual for a building in the human village or two to collapse during these storms and the streets left as impassable mud the day after. For the mistress of the mansion, it was even more depressing, since when the sun didn't keep her inside, the rain did, and so morale dropped significantly there as a result. It was also hard on Yuuka's flowers, which often died from literally drowning in the soil they were planted in during these storms.

One such storm had wreaked across the valley the night before. This morning, however, the clouds had dissipated, and as the sun rose over the mountains to the east, the haze left over from the night burned off and revealed the tile-blue sky above. One feature missing from the sky that many had grown accustomed to was the portal to the Netherworld; instead, it had been moved to a remote corner of one mountain, so that Yomou could still come and go from the village as needed. This made for an unblemished ceiling of cerulean as far as the eye could see.

As the sunlight rose above the mountains, slowly but surely it trickled down the mountainsides and tickled the outside walls of the Hakurei Shrine, where the shrine maiden was still asleep in her futon. The light creeped into her room, and soon licked her face. This was enough to stir the groggy girl from her slumber and prompt her to turn and face away from the light. It was too early, she thought, given how early the sun came up in the summer, she wanted to sleep in more. Soon, though, it proved for naught, and she had no choice but to wrench herself off the floor and face the day ahead.

As she got up, Reimu rubbed the sand from her eyes and looked around. No freeloader youkai to be seen, it seemed. For her, that counted as a success, given how often her youkai-extermination shrine somehow managed to attract rather than repel them. So, she could just focus on getting through with her chores: cleaning the floors and counters, checking the donation box, sweeping the walkway, and, of course, her daily offerings and prayer to the god whose name she didn't even know, much less what they looked like. It was a routine she'd followed ever since she was a child, the only significant breaks occurring during incidents, like the recent Lunar incident, the scars of which were still visible on some of the hillsides. Now eighteen and technically an adult, she thought constantly about what life ahead of her would bring, such as who would she marry, or prepare to hand the torch of the shrine to, and how much more different other things would become. For now, though, she simply focused on the now.

She got ready for the day, washing herself, brushing her teeth, unfrazzling her hair and getting the fussier aspects of her shrine maiden's dress into place, before making and having breakfast, which typically consisted for her of some fruit, leftover rice and fish from the night before, and, of course, the morning "cuppa." You can't resolve incidents or hold up danmaku battles without a healthy dose of caffeine running through your veins, especially when facing down hell ravens and goddesses and the like.

After breakfast, she got down onto her chores. She started by filling a bucket up with water and wiping down the tables and counter tops, before moving on to sweeping and mopping the floors throughout the shrine. After that, she took the broom outside, set it against the wall, and opened up the donation box to see if there was anything. Surprisingly, there were a few gold coins; she would have thought that with all that rain yesterday no one would be in the mood to go outside, much less haul up here and make offerings. She took the coins out and placed them in the repository inside the shrine before sweeping the front steps, then working her way down the steps beneath the torii until they were free of leaves and detritus blown in by the storm.

It took her until about eleven before she got through with everything. Normally, at this point, she would have lunch, then take a brief flight above Gensokyo to patrol for possible incidents before spending most of the rest of the day in prayer unless a guest decided to show up. Today, however, seemed different. The sun was shining, the air was crisp an pure from being cleansed by the rain, and unlike most days the temperature was pleasant. There was a mild breeze working its way down the mountains, and from her perch the whole valley seemed to open up like a book.

She looked on, and reflected. "You know," she mused, "it's been so hectic lately with all the incidents. Perhaps I should just slow down, and take everything in... the birds, the sound of fairies rustling in the bushes, the gentle breeze..." She thought it might be nice to hit a new café that opened up in the human village that made some really good tea and biscuits. She had enough funds to get her through the next couple of weeks at least, so she felt she could afford it. However, rather than fly there, she decided it would be best to walk and enjoy the slower pace to take in the day.

So, she got ready to go out. Being a youkai extermination shrine maiden, she never left the shrine unprepared, and even on short trips she was always ready for a high-class spell card bout. She grabbed a pre-made deck of spell cards off the shelf as well as her yin-yang orb, and stuffed them inside a satchel she kept underneath her dress, since she didn't want to look like she was looking for trouble unless she was (which is more often than you'd think, given how boring the shrine gets). Aside from those, she also got some basics together, like her purse, some chapstick courtesy of Eirin, and other bits and pieces, before setting off. She resisted the urge to run down the walkway that also served as a runway and made her way down the steps, taking care not to trip and fall.

The shortest path between the shrine and the village was lined with wards to keep the path clear of wandering youkai who might try to torment the humans as they made their way to give offerings, and these often had to be changed due to weather damage and the like. Because of the rainfall the previous night, she looked around and already knew she would be busy the next couple of days doing exactly that, but that wasn't her concern now. Days like this were rare, she reckoned, so why not take advantage? There's always tomorrow, she thought to herself.

Looking around, there seemed to be nothing particularly amiss. The closest thing to something resembling an incident she could see or hear was a fight between two fairies over a piece of food, but that was normal and none of her business. Fairy scuffles usually ended quickly whenever they so much as heard her coming by anyway, so she paid it no mind. She looked up at the sky, which slowly started filling up with small, bandy clouds as the moisture from last night evaporated and drifted upwards. There were no signs of any evident spell card duels, even though it was the perfect day for them; the skies were clear of fighters and the only things flying around were birds, and perhaps the occasional Aya taking pictures for her newspaper. For all intents and purposes, it was a perfect day as she strolled down the path.

* * *

All that serenity was slowly broken, however, as a faint humming noise could be heard emanating from the northwest. At first, Reimu brushed it off as just some huge bugs, but as it grew louder it seemed to almost have some electrical effects added to it.

"What's making that noise?" she wondered as she attempted to look for the thing making it. Her attention slowly turned to the sky, which had what appeared to be a subtle distortion forming and electrical bolts coming from it. She thought it could be a spell card duel before looking closer and realizing that whatever it was seemed to be a distortion in space-time, much like the Netherworld portal. If that's what it was, she realized, this was deathly serious; ANY threat to the Hakurei Border was treated with all the urgency of a confirmed nuclear attack occurring on the Outside.

The distortion soon ripped open and revealed a circular wormhole with a flowing fishnet pattern and dark blue/purple energy radiating inside. Without hesitating, Reimu sprinted down the path and took to the air, towards the wormhole, ready to face who or whatever opened it. As she rose above the valley below and barreled straight towards the wormhole, she thought to herself "and here I thought today would be boring, but turns out, there's an incident after all." A mild smirk drew across her face as she drew closer to the anomaly.

The wormhole, however, soon intensified. As she approached, Reimu slowly realized she was losing control of her flight and was being pulled in. She tried to turn around, but the force was too great. Soon, she was flailing about trying to escape its pull, but it was too late; she was already past the event horizon.

"Wha-wha- no, I can't let it – gaaah!" She tumbled around before, swiftly, she was sucked in and disappeared within the void.

* * *

And so began the adventure that would change her life and that of the rest of Gensokyo – and worlds beyond – forever.


	3. A Gatekeeper, a Magician, and a Doll

Meanwhile, from ground level, a stunned Hong Meiling looked on as the hole in the sky ripped open seemingly out of nowhere and hummed so forcefully she could actually feel it in her bones. To her, it seemed as if some otherworldly force bent on destruction was making its grand debut in Gensokyo.

Her first instinct was to warn the mistress. She vaulted over the gate, blew through the front doors of the mansion, and started running down the halls straight to Remilia's bedroom. She didn't care if she was asleep, there was a hole in the sky and she needed to know, NOW.

As she plowed through the fairy maids like a mad bull, a focused Sakuya was busy tidying up the china cupboards before she heard what she swore was a freight train coming down the halls. She paused her work and saw the fairy maids get tossed in all directions while a green-and-orange blur came straight towards her.

"OUT OF THE WAY!" Meiling screamed before Sakuya, who had just barely fathomed what was going on, came just shy of getting bulldozed before hastily stopping time in order to sidestep Meiling, freeze her in place, and try to figure out what on Earth was going on.

"What is the meaning of this?" she asked in her typically sharp tone. "Why are you not at the gate? What's the hurry and where are you intending to go?"

"No time to explain," Meiling replied. "I- we gotta warn the mistress! Something's happening!"

"What is it?" Sakuya asked. Meiling then showed her to a window with a clear view of the wormhole in the sky. "THAT is it."

It took Sakuya a second to understand the ramifications of what she was seeing. Slow as Meiling was at times, she did know a threat to the mistress when she saw one. Her refined expression soon turned into a face of pure, wide-eyed terror as she stared at the enormous hole emanating in the sky.

A split-second later, they were in Remilia's bedroom trying desperately to wake her up. The summer climate meant that she wasn't at her best, so she was none too pleased about waking up in the middle of the day with a pair of panicked voices screaming into her ear.

"Wake up! Wake up! WAKE THE HELL UP, REMI!" Their desperate voiced echoed inside the vampire mistress's ringing ears and head as she rolled over and up, revealing a less than kept face with messy blue hair going every which-way, half-open eyes with dark bags under them, and a mouth from which groans of displeasure were emanating. She looked up at the two wondering what the hell was going on that would warrant this behavior when all she wanted was some beauty rest.

Her head turned towards Sakuya first, and with a choppy, raspy voice, she grumbled "what is it?"

Meiling attempted to respond, but her panic and anxiety at that moment foiled all attempts at a coherent sentence. "There's a big-uh-there-a-ah-dah-buh-la-kooh-la-fra-da-"

Sakuya's hand slapped across Meiling's trap as she turned towards her mistress with a sharp but very clearly concerned look on her face. "There's a huge hole in the sky outside."

"Oh, is that so?" Remilia rasped as she still shook herself awake. Typical Remi, Sakuya figured; even in a crisis she always kept her composure despite her immature tendencies at times. She handed her mistress a robe and led her out to the back balcony, which was always shaded thanks to a charm they wrung out of Marisa the one time Meiling stopped her stealing books and defeated her in a duel. There, she pointed out the hole in the sky, which Remilia studied. She quickly surmised that this was not Yukari's doing, nor was it likely that any other group such as the Lunarians or Celestials would be behind this anomaly.

Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the wormhole closed up, and the disturbance dissipated.

The two women at her side, still visibly shaking in place, attempted to regain their composure to ask her of her thoughts on the matter.

"Well? Sakuya inquired. Meiling was still too terrified to speak.

Remilia thought silently for a few seconds before turning around to her maid and replying "something bad has happened. And if nothing is done..." She paused, looked down, then looked up again before continuing. "...if nothing is done, then all of us – this whole land – we are all fated... for disaster."

Sakuya was stunned. Remilia had never responded with quite this sort of tone before. Not during the endless night, not during the faith incident, not during the religious war, not during Seija's uprising and not even during the recent lunar crisis. This, she could tell, THIS, whatever it was, easily trumped all of those.

"Disaster?" she asked.

"Whatever is behind this, it clearly wants Gensokyo destroyed or disrupted in such a way as to endanger its balance and the lives of every living thing here. It has the means to do so." She paced around a bit, and then turned around to the maid and the gatekeeper. "And this may be its calling card, its way of signaling our doom."

"What should we do about it? Meiling asked. "We can't just stand here contemplating our dooms!"

Remilia, in spite of her disheveled appearance, still managed to give her that piercing look of playfulness that suggested maybe she shouldn't have asked that question.

"Obviously," she told the gatekeeper, "this is a job for the shrine maiden. So I want you to go track her down and bring her to me."

Meiling took a second to suck that sentence in. "M-me? But, what about the gate? What if that blasted magician, her lover and that doll-thing they call a kid come by to, er, borrow books?"

"Realistically, given that hole in the sky, I think stealing books is not going to be very high on their respective priority lists right now," Sakuya responded. "And besides, it's about time you got off your napping ass and solved an incident for us," she said with a smile.

The gatekeeper looked between the two in front of her for a few seconds, before looking straight forward, realizing the task she was given. After all, she never ignored the lady's orders, and dark times were facing her home.

So she puffed up her chest and bellowed out "yes ma'am! I will go find the shrine maiden and then I'll beat up the ne'er-do-well causing this mess!" The goofy expression on her face really sold it, as Remilia couldn't help but smile and smirk.

After that, she promptly ran to the edge of the balcony and jumped over the railing.

The mistress and her maid couldn't help but stare forward confused. As Sakuya walked over to the railing and saw Meiling scramble across the ground in the general direction of the shrine, wondering why she didn't just fly, she looked over her shoulder and saw that her mistress had already shown herself back to bed.

She looked forward again and mumbled to herself "y'know, I've worked with that strange woman for decades and I still don't get everything she does sometimes, even if I just excuse it as her being a youkai."

After that, we went back to roughly where she was working before this whole mess started, trying her best to peel her brain off of the disturbing scene she had just borne witness to. But she knew, in the back of her mind, that whatever this was, it was only the beginning of an incident the likes of which Gensokyo had yet to see.

* * *

Across the valley, similar reactions were erupting in response to this strange wormhole. The Taoists interpreted it as Chang'e somehow tearing a way into Gensokyo. The residents of Eintei thought this could be another invasion attempt, despite the peaceful resolution of the Lunar incident; perhaps one of them didn't get the message. Sanae saw it an frantically started conjuring up miracles to try and counter it. Even in the underground, whose residents didn't physically see it, Satori still sensed widespread terror on the surface about something horrible, causing her to toss around going up there with her pets to see what it was.

And those were some of the more measured reactions. In the human village, discord spread like wildfire as people were running about back into their houses or the nearest building, screaming and cursing at the wretched hole in the sky all the way. Because of how muddy the streets were from the night before, mud kicked up all over the place, causing people to slip and fall and kids and small animals to be trampled in the frenzied panic. Dogs were barking up a storm and the chickens were scattering all over the place.

The discord made its way to the schoolhouse, where Keine hurriedly rushed the kids back inside to try and shield them from whatever threats might spill out of the ominous portal looming over the town. Among the kids wondering what was going on and confusingly rushing back inside was not biologically human, but rather an animate doll in a yellow dress with a smaller doll floating behind her.

As the herd tried to cram into a too-small door, she took a moment to turn back and stare at the gaping maw that tore itself into the sky above. Her moms had described many crazy incidents, including one with a similar portal and spring being sucked through it, so she wondered if this was possibly a repeat of that incident. The past winter had been long, and she wasn't sure she wanted it to come back so quickly.

"Sunshine, dear, what are you doing? Get inside now!" Keine grabbed her hand and dragged her in just as the portal above closed.

Inside, all the kids were chatting among one another, trying to come up with explanations of what they just witnessed, but to no avail. Their teacher, miss Keine Kamishirasawa, walked in with Sunshine, her face still half-paralyzed with fear. She ordered the living doll back to her seat and stood in front of the class. Everyone could tell she was immensely terrified, but they were too nervous or confused themselves to really question it.

She set her things down and addressed the class. "Class..." She hesitated before continuing. "...in light of what has just happened, we will be practicing lockdown for the rest of the day. No more recess until it is time to go home." At first some of the kids groaned about there not being any recess, but upon recalling the bedlam going on just outside the school's walls, they changed their minds about the matter.

Being in school for just a few months, Sunshine didn't really understand the concept of this "lockdown" other than that it involved not going outside for the rest of the day. She also still wasn't too good with emotions yet, but she could tell something was seriously wrong, in the way miss Kamishirasawa was acting, the way the other students were acting, the mayhem going on out in the streets... she wasn't too terribly sure how to take it all in. So, she decided to just act concerned about it like the other kids, even if she didn't understand what was going on; after all, the more like them she could be, the less many of them gave her a hard time about being a doll and the more she could fit in.

Barely a few minutes passed by before a horde of parents were outside the schoolhouse, asking to take their kids home early for the day. Keine was annoyed by this given that she still had important lessons to get to for her 3rd-6th years, a group that included Sunshine, but given recent circumstances she decided not to question it and decided to let them off early. That way, at least, she could devote some time at the town hall crafting a response to this latest incident.

As she dismissed the class, Sunshine made her way down the hallway looking for her moms. Once outside, she saw them, clear as day, looking right at her.

Before she could even speak up, Marisa grabbed her, threw her on the back of her broomstick, and the three of them took off back towards home.

* * *

At home, Alice offloaded Sunshine's books and bags while Marisa gave her the rundown on what just happened.

"So... mom," she stumbled, still not that great with words. "What happened?"

"Well," Marisa started, "me and your mom were out huntin' mushrooms so we could sell them at the market tomorrow, when all of a sudden, she was like 'Marisa, look over there!' and she pointed at the sky. So I look and, well, a big, huge hole opened up and scared the living daylights right outta both of us! So we knew, right then, 'we need to get Sunshine home right now, otherwise she's gonna get run over by dumb, panicky villagers!' And you know, she didn't complain one bit."

Sunshine took her turn by explaining how everyone was out enjoying lunch recess before a couple of kids pointed out the sky distortion, which some were looking at when it opened straight up, revealing the violet-blue void with the white light at the end with fishnet patterns flowing out, and how the teacher called them back in as soon as it happened. She also described the general pandemonium in the streets and how it seemed like the whole place was falling apart.

Marisa took this all in before it hit her: this was a barrier incident, and barrier incidents required only one red-and-white clad shrine maiden for the job. So she got some things together and began to head out.

Alice came back from the other room when she spotted Marisa gathering things together like she was going somewhere. "Where are you going?" she asked. Marisa replied "the shrine. Reimu's gonna need all the help she can get, and we missed out on the last incident with the Lunar invasion so this will make up." She grabbed Sunshine by the hand. "And I'm taking pipsqueak with me."

Alice was furious upon hearing that last bit. "No, absolutely not! She's staying here where it's safe, I'm not letting some wormhole eat her up because of you!"

"Why not?" Marisa shot back coyly. "It's not like it's going away, if anything it's just beginning. And besides, this'll be her first real incident, and there's sure to be more, so why not now while it's fresh?"

Alice sighed. Marisa was always hot-headed and headstrong in her ways, and she did make a fair point: this would catch up to them if nothing was done. So she responded "alright, fine. But, if she's going, I'm going with you."

Marisa nodded. "You got it, girlfriend." The puppeteer threw together some combat dolls in a basket and got a couple spare decks off the shelf, and in no time flat they were outside. Marisa thought about taking the Black Arwing for a spin, but decided that would probably be overkill for the freaked-out villagers and youkai who's minds were already overloaded by the wormhole. Maybe if the situation got even more out of hand, but until then, she was content with her broomstick.

The trio flew straight to the shrine, and upon arriving were surprised to see another, unrelated figure had beat them there. Just as they landed, Meiling made it up the last of the steps, and was huffing and puffing as she staggered towards the shrine when she spotted the magicians. Of all the people she wanted to see right now, she thought, these were probably clear on the bottom.

She approached the magicians. She wanted to say something that clearly expressed her displeasure, but she just got done running a marathon so all she could manage was a slightly annoyed "hello."

"Well, hi," Marisa responded. "Fancy seein' you here. I take it the lady sent ya?" Meiling nodded in response. They all knew why they were there.

As they approached the shrine, they skipped the wash basin they were supposed to use before entering; when you're dealing with a crisis, what's skipping the proper procedure once gonna harm anyway? They also walked past the donation box, but Sunshine couldn't help but leave an offering, so she tossed a couple coins and made a quick wish before catching up to her parents and the gatekeeper at the front door.

Marisa banged a couple times. "Reimu, you there?" There was no response. She banged a couple more times a little more vigorously. "Reimu, this is Marisa, c'mon, we got an incident to swat!" Still no response. Marisa then just thought "screw it" and threw the sliding doors open and started looking everywhere for the errant shrine maiden, but she wasn't to be seen.

"Where is that blasted brunette when you need her?!" she scowled, looking all over. It was then that Alice suggested "maybe she's already out trying to resolve the incident." Marisa turned around with a frustrated expression and yelled "GEE, YA THINK?!" As they walked out the back to see if she was there, Meiling walked in file behind Sunshine, and couldn't help but stare at Ichigo levitating behind the living doll child. If only she had a doll assistant, she thought, that would make guarding the gate easier since she didn't have to be awake half as often.

"She's not here," a voice called out. Marisa instantly knew who its owner was. They looked over in the direction it came from, and saw a gap where a small pond normally was. Out of it crawled Yukari, still as much of a troll as ever, but this time she seemed much more focused and serious.

"I thought you were supposed to be sleeping," Marisa said. "You always do that, y'know."

"Not when an incident of this magnitude crops up, I'm afraid." She clearly sounded different. Usually, when she spoke, it was with a slight haughty air with a dash of demeaning and sarcasm, but this time her tone was noticeably more serious and grave. That's when you knew it hit the fan, Marisa realized: when Yukari was actually dead serious.

"So, I'm assuming you know where she went?" Marisa inquired the boundary youkai. Yukari didn't hesitate. "I'm afraid so," she responded, "for it seems... she was a little too zealous in investigating this incident."

Of course.

They didn't really need an explanation to puzzle out what had happened to her. "That damn idiot, always rushing to save the day without caring about her own safety, you'd think the Hakurei shrine maiden would be a little more careful when literally the weight of this valley sits on her shoulders," she snarled.

"Now," Yukari responded in a rather subdued tone, "what an interesting assessment. Is that not what some would call, the pot calling the kettle black?"

Alice tried hard to hold back a snicker at that statement. As much as she didn't care for the hag sometimes, she had to admit, that was too true to balk at.

They stared at the sky where the wormhole had been hours before. Meiling was still confused, so she spoke up. "So, now, what does this all mean?"

"Well, for one, she'd better not be dead without a replacement," Marisa said, "'else this place'll come crashing down on our heads. Or at least that's what I've been told."

"No, she's not dead," Yukari replied. "Not yet, at least."

"Well then, where is she?" Alice asked.

Yukari took a moment in her response before delivering a crushing statement.

"For once, I do not know."


	4. The Girl in the White Dress

It had been an interesting morning for Lillie.

It all started as she was steeping some breakfast tea while the sounds of Professor Kukui wrestling his Lycanroc were all too audibly rumbling up from downstairs and shaking the floorboards. She had left Nebby up in her room, where it was messing around on her tablet with a bubble-popping game meant for cats.

She looked out the window, trying to ignore the brawl in the basement, where the sun had just cleared the horizon, its rays glistening across the sparkling waters of the Melemele Sea. Early morning surfers were taking advantage of the lack of crowds on this part of the island to paddle out and hit the tides. Trainers were busy wandering the beaches, hoping to snatch up the Staryu that often buried themselves in the sand or the Slowpoke that often lounged in the grass. The nearby Ten Carat Hill cave also served as a magnet for trainers hoping to score some rare Pokémon to add to their teams.

Lillie herself didn't train Pokémon. After all, she'd been raised around Pokémon who had been brutalized by bad apples or saved from the grips of predators, so she had a somewhat dim view of the art. That didn't stop her from fantasizing, though. Her whole life, she had always wanted a cute Alolan Vulpix. She had only ever seen one, brought in by an ace trainer to the Aether Paradise once, and she was immediately lovestruck. Sadly, they tended to hole themselves halfway up Mt. Lanakila and rarely came down, so it seemed a distant goal to her.

As for Nebby, she still wasn't quite sure what to make of it, or, really, what drove her to make off with it with several Aether employees chasing after her. All she knew now was that she was a fugitive of sorts; that her mother hadn't actively tried to go after either her or her brother at this point seemed proof positive that she didn't care anymore.

But Nebby didn't seem to mind; it just seemed grateful that she saved it, and adopted her as a mother of sorts. She was also lucky enough to find Professor Kukui, who was nice enough to give her a place to lie low. She could keep going to school, and when she wasn't busy with schoolwork she would sometimes visit Hala in Iki Town who would show her how to do traditional Alolan stone carvings and sculpture. It was a fun activity, one she got really good at. Good enough, in fact, that she was recently entrusted with a spare Sparkling Stone, one which she intended to make a Z-ring out of. She set out to make a masterpiece, because this one, which she had just put the finishing touches on, was meant for Hau, whose eleventh birthday was tomorrow. The boy, who was Hala's grandson, just couldn't wait to get his first Pokémon and start his Island Challenge, and the amount of energy and tenacity exuding from his bubbly exterior was just touching to her.

The tea was ready just as a scratched-up and bruised Kukui came upstairs, his Lycanroc all ruffled up and with a bone in her mouth. He took a big whiff of the scent thrown out by the tea kettle as Lillie started on the toast and eggs.

"Good quality time with your pooch?" she asked the professor with a subtle dash of condescending mixed in.

"You know it!" he responded with his usual bombastic energy. "I was just testing out some new techniques with her, see if I could get her to learn Earthquake!"

"If that happens, this whole place is going to come falling on our heads," Lillie responded. "I already spent most of yesterday after school mending the thatching from your fights with your dog." She set a plate of bacon on the table and filled up Kukui's cup with tea from the kettle before checking on the scrambled eggs and getting the toast out of the toaster.

She sat down with the professor, who began discussing his plans for the day. As he drank his tea, she couldn't help but wonder how on earth he was able to drink it straight without wincing; she always took a couple spoonfuls of sugar with hers. He also liked his bacon extra greasy for whatever reason, which she found off-putting and so did Burnet to an extent, but neither of them really criticized him for it, and Burnet just took it as part of his charm.

"So, after I get done programming that Close Combat TM I've been working on, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me up to Iki town and visit Hala. I know Hau's been dying to see you."

Lillie always thought it funny why Hau liked her so much, given she had a good three years on him, but then again, this was a boy who apparently tried to throw himself into a sumo match when he was six, so eccentricy was something she had come to expect from him – he was just a boy, after all. And she did honestly enjoy seeing him. It was Saturday, and school had just ended for the summer so it wasn't like she was in a hurry to do anything.

"Of course I would like to go!" she said with a smile and bright eyes.

"That's my Lillie! Alright, I'll just be an hour or so and then we'll head up!"

Moves like Close Combat were tricky to program into TMs because of how complex some of the more specialized techniques were. In particular, that's why certain moves like Superpower had to be tutored; you just couldn't shove that onto a disc efficiently. But Kukui felt he was nearing a big break; the moves professor had always prided himself on coming up with new and easier ways for Pokémon to duke it out, and to let things like Dragonite and Bewear have it, he felt, was a big draw, given how coveted the move was. But in order to actually get it to work, you have to first convert a technique into data form, which required extracting it from a Pokémon in the PC. Then you had to hotrod it to make it compatible with certain DNA bits present in Pokémon that dictated whether or not they could actually conceivably use the attack, and you had to do that for everything that couldn't learn it naturally, which took time. Finally, you had to compress it all onto a disc for use in special cases or ray guns trainers carried with them that allowed for the teaching of those moves, and make sure the compressed data still worked. It was a daunting task, one that had taken him months, but he was finally on the brink of having a functional Close Combat TM that he could trademark and sell for buckets of cash.

As he pulled out the freshly pressed disc, he recalled his Lycanroc Suzie into her Ultra Ball, placed it in his case, then put the disc in. After a few seconds, it prompted him to make her forget a move. He selected Bite, which was redundant as she had Crunch already, then waited a few more seconds before it announced a success.

He then took the ball out, sent out Suzie, and instructed her to use Close Combat on a training dummy in the corner of the room. She hesitated for a few seconds before growling and lunging at the dummy, clawing, biting, slamming and tearing at it with all her might. Afterwards, she got down from it and just looked at him with that derp look dogs often give to their owners.

Success.

He got down and started praising her. "Who's a good girl? Yes, you are! You are a good gir-" he gave her a raspberry as she licked his face. He then gave her a treat and took her upstairs.

"Ya ready?"

"Give me just a minute, professor!" Lillie responded. She quickly dug out a Pokéball and called Nebby into it. Even though she wasn't a trainer, Professor Kukui still convinced her to keep Nebby in a Pokéball to make it easier to conceal from people who might be too interested in it, which she ultimately agreed with and followed through on. Even so, it was still really good at just letting itself out, which made her question whether it was a Pokémon at times. She put the ball in her duffel bag, got her things together, and walked out the door with the professor.

The trip to Iki town was a bit inconvenient given that there were no paved roads and most people just walked in, so Kukui would often just call up a Tauros and ride into town from his lab that way, with Lillie riding behind him as the bull charged through the grass scaring off varmints that would otherwise try to give them trouble. In fact, cars were rare outside of Hau'oli City, the biggest city on the island and all of Alola for that matter, giving the island a relaxed, rural feel of the kind that attracted hikers and nature lovers from other regions. Alola had some killer bird watching, with birders coming from as far-flung as Kalos to watch nesting Toucannon taking care of their hatchlings, or catch a glimpse of an elusive Oricorio.

Eventually, they pulled up into town and dismounted. As the Tauros was recalled back to the ranch where ride Pokémon not in use were cared for, Hala was already walking up to them.

"Professor Kukui!" the large, elderly man exclaimed, walking up to him with arms open.

"Hala, what's up?" he replied as he gave the elder a man-hug.

Just behind Hala, Hau was already bouncing out, ready to greet them.

"Hey Lillie!" he said waving his hand with a smile.

Lillie knelt slightly to his level to meet him. "Hi there, Hau. I'm doing fine, how about yourself?"

"Can't wait!" he said cheekily. "Just another day, and I'll have all summer to tear up the islands and become the next Island Champ!" The energy in his eyes and speech was simply bursting.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I don't have a Dialga on me," Lillie said to the boy, "or I could turn time forward and we could have your party right now!" She stifled a laugh, but Hau didn't seem to notice or care. He was just blinded by the prospect of his very own Pokémon, so much so he hadn't even seemed to have given much thought as to what he wanted said first Pokémon to be. He could probably be given a Magikarp for all he cared and he would still be happy.

"Why don't you all come on inside?" Hala asked them. "I got my boy Hau to cook us all up some salt pork and glazed sitrus skewers to snack on!" They all made their way inside and sat around the table on the back patio, which had a carving of Tapu Koko chiseled into it. Hau laid out the snacks on platters in the middle and got everyone some plates and some fresh leppa juice, except for Kukui who helped himself to a cup of coffee.

Kuki told Hala about his latest invention and proudly waved it in front of the kahuna's face. "And THIS," he commented, "is the fruit of five straight, painstaking months of work. And now it's ready for market."

"Well done," Hala said whilst slowly clapping. The old master of Fighting-types was nothing less than satisfied that his young but close friend and pupil had managed to fit Close Combat, of all things, onto a TM. "Have I told you I've always admired your dedication to your research?"

"It's only matched by my passion for battles," Kukui chirped back. Hala gave a big belly laugh as they toasted his accomplishment.

Meanwhile, Hau was busy describing to Lillie how he read up on all sorts of cool strategies and how he was ready to become Alola's strongest trainer. "But Hau," Lillie asked him, "how are you going to do that if you don't even know what to start with?"

"That's easy!" he told her, "cause I already know what I want!" He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper with pictures of Rowlet, Litten and Popplio on them, with Rowlet circled.

"Oh," she remarked. "So you DO know what you want."

"Why not?" he responded. "It's round, it's an owl, it turns its head around when you're telling it what to do, and I hear it's got a really cool evolution!"

The "head spinning around to see its trainer" part creeped Lillie out a bit, but she had seen stranger, such as how Pyukumuku apparently spit their internal organs out at you in the form of a fist as a defense, so she just took in his words and nodded as he went on about how he and Rowlet were going to go and find all of Alola's rarest and strongest Pokémon, from the powerful Salamence of Melemele to the wise Oranguru of Akala to the mysterious Mimikyu of Ula'ula to the elusive but steadfast Kommo-o of Poni, and everything in between. He even dared to say he would capture one of the Tapu and add it to his team, something no one had done in over five centuries.

"And that's how I'm gonna conquer the islands," he said.

"Well," Lillie responded, "sounds like you have quite a bit in front of you!" She smiled and sipped on some more leppa juice.

"You bet!"

She was enjoying the boy's enthusiasm about becoming a trainer. So much so, she hadn't noticed Nebby had snuck out of its Pokéball and began wandering off the porch towards the forest behind town. That is, until Lillie got up to go refill her glass, when she noticed it in the corner of her eye heading into the trees.

She just stood there, and looked on with a mild sense of terror on her face.

"Uh, professor... I uh... gotta go check something, if that's okay with you."

"What is it?" Kukui asked.

"I, uh, well... bye!" She took off towards the trail.

The two men and one boy looked on as the girl in the white dress jumped into the jungle on the Mahalo trail.

"What's with her? Shouldn't we go after her?" Hau asked the professor.

"Nah, I think I know exactly what's going on," he replied. "I kinda figured that thing would want to see a Tapu at some point. It just seems... attracted to them, whenever we walk by a statue of them, it flails its puffballs around."

"That's odd," Hala responded. "Most Pokémon and other animals avoid the Tapu if they can, unless they think they can take them. I wonder what's so special about... what's it called, Nebby, that it wants to see them so badly."

"I guess that's true," Hau said. He didn't actually know what either of them were talking about, but he just kind of went along. "By the way, why didn't she just say Nebby ran away and then took us with her?"

Hala knelt down to Hau's level. "Hau, I think you'll understand this a little better when you're older and you start dating, but women often do things that seem strange to us. I remember back in the day your grandmother used to do things that I didn't really get, and your dad was the same way, and you'll be the same way, too."

Yeah, his dad... Hau didn't pay it too much mind. He figured, well, I'll just focus on being a master now and worry about girls later. After all, it wasn't like his grandpa's advice was going to be applicable to him right this second, it's not like he was going on his quest to meet a bunch of girls after all.

At least, that's what he thought...

Reimu suddenly woke up with a gasp. She didn't even realize she had passed out. One moment, the wormhole was sucking her in, the next, this.

She could tell she was floating in a void. Her limbs were numb. She flailed them around a bit to try and get some feeling back into them. It was really stiff and painful once she did, but the feeling subsided after a while, and once it did, she took a moment to more closely survey where she was.

It was definitely... different. The fishnet patterns seemed to be going in all sorts of different directions against the background of purplish-blue energy. Various bits of light were flashing everywhere. It was really hard to get a clear point of reference which way was up and down – maybe it didn't matter, so she just tried to adjust her position to what she thought was up.

She found she could control her movement... at least somewhat. Enough to where she wasn't spinning around, at least. Again, there was no point of reference to speak of. If she was moving, she didn't know it.

She looked around to try and find an exit, or at least a surface to get her bearings, but the lights everywhere were making it difficult to tell what was an exit – she assumed it would be a large, white orb of light, since that was what was inside the wormhole that appeared in Gensokyo.

This was so strange, she thought. Normally, she could manipulate barriers and fly through worlds with no issue, but whatever this was, it was stymieing her efforts. It was just so unlike what she was used to – so alien, it felt – that she couldn't immediately wrap her head around...

Then, she heard a noise._ Flash_. It almost sounded like chimes.

She immediately drew her gohei and stuck it forward. "Who's there?" No response. "Show yourself!"

Then, it appeared. It flickered in front of her for a couple seconds, then it materialized. It was a glassy creature, it almost looked like a jellyfish. And it looked like its head – or something, she couldn't tell – was a hat.

"What are you?" she asked forcefully. The creature gave no reply.

"Are you a youkai? If you are, and you did this, then I, the maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, must destroy you for your crime against the barrier."

Again, no reply. It just stared at her listlessly... or maybe it wasn't, it didn't seem to have eyes.

"You are defying the laws set forth by the erectors of the Hakurei Border. If you do not answer –"

"...nihhhiiihhhhihhhiiiihhhhhhhhhhhh" It made a sound, and a slight backward jerking motion, which made it look like its "cape" was blowing forward. It then lunged at her, and she took a defensive stance, but instead of physical contact, reality seemed to flicker for just a moment.

She looked behind her, and the creature was making its way into the abyss, like she wasn't even there.

"Gahhh... what's going on here?!" She felt herself losing control again. A huge, bright ball of light was moving closer to her... no, she was moving closer to _it_. "What is this? I'm losing – ahhhhhh –"

As she rushed up the trail, Lillie looked everywhere for Nebby, but it was nowhere to be seen.

"It can't possibly move that fast, can it?" she said to herself as she rushed up toward the bridge across the Maholo stream that led straight to the Ruins of Conflict. She could sense the Pokémon in the trees eyeing her... this was a bad spot for someone without a Pokémon to be. Good thing repels existed.

Eventually, she made it to the rickety bridge, and right in the center was Nebby.

"Nebby!"

Nebby turned around and saw her. It knew it was in trouble, but it wanted to see the Guardian so bad...

She took out her Pokéball that she kept it in. It immediately started pouting. "Pew! Pew!" it exclaimed.

"Look, I know you want to see Tapu Koko, but this place is dangerous! Please come ba –"

She was interrupted by the sound of a Spearow up above.

"Caw! Caw! Speeearcaw!" Crap, there were three of them. And they saw Nebby, thinking it was food. The three birds bore down and started circling Nebby like vultures.

"Pew! Pew! PEW!" Nebby cried out and flailed its puffs to try and scare them off but, obviously, it didn't quite work. Meanwhile, all Lillie could do was just watch on in horror as what she feared would happen, DID happen.

"NO, get away!" She tried to cross the bridge to scare them off herself, but it started swaying violently, and she was worried about falling over.

She then cried out. "Please! Anyone who can hear me! Please help me! Please save Nebby!"

There was no response.

Then, as if on cue, a wormhole opened up in the sky. Lillie looked up. She knew what this was. She'd seen them before and Professor Burnet talked about them a lot in her tales. It was an Ultra Wormhole. Did Nebby open it? Well, maybe, as a defense mechanism, but it didn't seem to be straining itself to do so. Maybe another force opened it, or it just appeared randomly.

The wormhole on its own didn't seem to faze the birds, but then she looked closer, and swore she could see an object coming through.

She squinted. Yup, it was an object alright. Then it got bigger, and she heard sustained screaming. Then it got big enough for her to establish that it was a person. Wait, a person falling out of the wormhole?!

When the figure came through, it barreled straight down towards Nebby. The Spearows saw it and immediately scattered. It landed right in front of Nebby with an audible BANG on the wood of the bridge. Nebby jumped in the air in surprise.

Lillie looked closer. It seemed to be an older girl or a younger woman, dressed up in a manner similar to a kimono girl.

The girl looked up, and saw Nebby. Lillie called out "oh my... m-miss, are you alright?"

She didn't respond. Instead, she groaned softly whilst still looking at Nebby. She was clearly delirious. She just looked forward, and barely managed a sentence. "Ohhh... oh, oh. A-are you, a..." Nebby looked at her with a puzzled expression on its face.

Then, the ropes on the other side snapped, and the bridge started to collapse.

"Wha... Wha, OSH-" Without thinking, she grabbed a hold of Nebby, who was both scared and ticked at being handled by a strange lady. "Pew, Pew!" It struggled against her for a second, before realizing what was happening. As the two started falling down as the wood planks fell in all directions, she screamed, it screamed, all Lillie could do was look on paralyzed with fear as Nebby and a person she didn't know fell down into the canyon.

Then, a yellow dot shot out of the sky, and into the canyon with a magnificent woosh. "Tapu kokokokokokokoko!" It sounded like an oversized chicken as it grabbed a hold of the girl and brought it back up to safety on Lillie's side of the canyon.

As she was set down, Reimu let go of Nebby, then turned her head around to get a look at her savior. It was the most bizarre thing, black with an enormous orange mohawk and what looked like white face paint, a torso that terminated in what seemed to be large, orange feathers, and two halves of a yellow, ornately painted shell with black pincers on them. They just stared for a second, before the... thing called out loudly "KOKOKO!" and took off into the air, dropping a sparkling object onto the ground as it did so.

Lillie knelt down to the beleaguered shrine maiden's level and talked to her softly. "...you okay?"

Reimu pushed herself off the ground, a few bones and joints cracking as she did so. At least she didn't break anything, she thought. "Yeah... I'm okay... sort of." She had some scrapes on her arms and hands, and one of her sleeves was partially torn, but for falling out of an ultra wormhole onto a bridge, she looked great.

Lillie brushed some of the dust off of her, then helped her back up onto her feet. "You... you saved Nebby."

"Nebby? Oh, that thing," Reimu responded. Nebby gave a pouting look at her for a second, but then returned to smiling like it always did.

She looked at the shiny thing that whatever had saved her had dropped. It looked like a strangely patterned stone of some sort. She was about to grab it, but Lillie did it first.

"Here, I'll get that for you."

She then recalled Nebby and led the confused girl back down the hill towards town.

When she returned, Hala and Kukui were already there waiting for her to return. They saw Reimu being helped by her as well.

"Oh, well, who do we have here?" Hala said in a surprised tone.

"Well... it's a long story, I suppose." She didn't want to come off as saying she saw an ultra wormhole when most of the town didn't even know what that was.

Reimu looked up and looked around at all the various faces looking in her general direction. People dressed in ways she didn't recognize. Unusual trees and plants everywhere. At least two youkai-looking creatures, three if you counted the thing in the wormhole. This all was way above her cognitive pay grade at the moment.

"W-where am I?" She managed to get out, still smarting from the fall.

"She, uh, I think we should take her back to your place, professor. Then I can explain everything."

"Hey gramps, can I go with them?" Hau asked Hala. But Hala seemed to understand the gravity of the situation a little better than his excitable grandson.

"I think it's best if you stayed in town. This poor girl seems to need a lot of rest, from the looks of what she went through... oh?" He noticed the sparkle in Lillie's bag. "Lillie, do you mind?"

Lillie looked, and then nodded. He reached into her duffel bag and pulled out what was unmistakably a Sparkling Stone. "She found it." Hala looked at Reimu. "Young lady," he asked her, "where did you get this?"

"Um, well..." She didn't quite know how to respond. "I... well, I fell out of this hole in the sky and onto a bridge... then I grabbed this purple puffball as the bridge collapsed... then we were saved by this... this huge yellow thing that sounded like a chicken and..."

Hala didn't even need to hear the rest of it to know where this was going. Not only was she saved by Tapu Koko, but it clearly saw something in her worthy of a Sparkling Stone. It was rare for non-Alolans to be blessed with one. But apparently she fell out of a hole in the sky? Well, obviously, that was nothing short of a miracle! This girl was very unusual indeed.

He looked at her again. "Do you mind if I hold onto this, just for a day? I'll give it back to you, you'll want it."

"Sure, I don't mind," she said. She still didn't really understand what was going on here. This all was strange and new for her. She didn't really resist when she was loaded onto the back of a Tauros and taken to Kukui's lab down on the beach. It all just seemed a blur.

"Thanks for the help!" Kukui waved at Hala as he went off on his Tauros.

"Always happy to hear it!" He took off back towards the village.

As this was transpiring, Reimu tried to get a better grip on her surroundings. In front of her was... a lake? A river? It took her a moment to realize... that was the ocean. She'd always heard stories of the ocean, but of course, Gensokyo was not on the sea, so she never thought she would see it. But there it was. She didn't know what they were, but there were several Wingull flying over trying to catch some of the fish Pokémon that would occasionally come close to the surface, mostly Wishiwashi.

As they made their way inside the shack that passed for a Pokémon lab, an unexpected face greeted Kukui.

"Oh, honey, you're back!" It was professor Burnet, apparently back from the lab and making a quick snack.

"Oh hey! Wasn't expecting you back so quickly. What's up?"

Burnet responded to him, "well, it was a pretty slow day at the lab, so I just left early, got on my boat and drove back here."

"Well, lemme tell ya, you missed the show," Kukui boasted. "A bunch of things happened and, well, we found this young lady, or rather, Lillie did." Reimu walked up sheepishly towards the strange white-haired lady.

"Now, honey, what did I say about dragging in more vagrant girls? One's enough already!"

"I saw it," Lillie said. "She came out of an Ultra Wormhole." Ultra Wormhole? Is that what it was? Reimu didn't even know anymore.

Professor Burnet stood there for a moment, before she said "...I see." If what Lillie said was true, then this was huge. "...well, why don't you have a seat over there? I'll make you some tea, if you want it."

After all she'd been through, the fact that these people at least knew what tea was was comforting.

After Lillie put a few bandages on her harms and fixed up her sleeves, Reimu sat down at the table with these people. They looked at her with curiosity, which unnerved her, but then, she was a strange person who got thrown out of an interdimentional portal, so it only made sense.

"Can you tell us your name? Do you know what we're saying?" Burnet asked.

It was strange. They clearly were not speaking Japanese, but for some reason, she could understand them perfectly... maybe she was just imagining things. Their script was a little strange, too, almost like those books back in Patchouli's – hold it, this was English or something like it. What was going on here? Strange portals don't just make it so you instantly know languages!

...she decided not to overthink it and just give out a response. "...my name... My name is... Reimu Hakurei..."

"Reimu?" Burnet said. "That's a pretty name. I think I remember a colleague from Johto named Reimu as well." She looked over the shrine maiden. "But you don't look like you're from Johto. In fact, you probably don't know what Johto is, or what any of this is."

What's a Johto? She'd never heard of anyplace on the Outside that went by that name. "Please tell me... where am I? Right now?"

Kukui spoke up. "Well, if you want the straight answer, you have landed in the sunny Alola region, a chain of paradise, right smack in the middle of the great, blue ocean!"

Wait, what? She was on an island far out in the ocean?! No other land for thousands of kilometers?! She'd spent her whole life not knowing the ocean and now it surrounded her on all sides! This was all way too much for her to absorb, but it at least helped her understand her place in this world. She was pretty sure it was a different world.

So, she decided to test it. "Do you know... which way Japan is from here?"

"Japan?" Kukui asked. "Never heard of it."

Yup, definitely a different world. And yet so much like her own.

She picked up the tea in front of her and took a sip. A little bitter compared to what she was used to, but otherwise pretty decent. She stirred in some sugar to help even the taste out.

"It seems I've landed in an alternate reality. Please tell me, do you know what happened?"

Burnet spoke up. "Well, if what Lillie over here is saying is correct..." Lillie? That was the girl's name? Well, she did look a little bit like Lily White, what with the white dress and the blonde hair.

"...then you came out of an Ultra Wormhole. It's a phenomenon people associate with Alola, because it happens here the most. I work at a place called the Dimensional Research Lab, where we study these sorts of things."

Reimu's ears perked up. This woman might just know how to get her back home if she studied these sorts of things. But, one way or another, she knew she was probably going to be here a while, stressing Yukari out to no end, but even so, the sooner she could find a way back, the better.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name," Reimu said to Kukui.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Professor Kukui, and I serve as the regional Pokémon professor here in Alola."

Wait, a Pokémon? What was that?

"What's a Pokémon?" Reimu asked.

"Oh, right, a Pokémon. Well, for one, the thing that saved you back at the bridge is one. And there are hundreds of species of them in this world, and they come in all shapes an sizes!"

He pulled out a sphere from his coat pocket with a white bottom and a black top with yellow bands on it. He tossed it in the air behind him, and out in a burst of energy came what looked like a wolf. A wolf with a mane that had rocks sticking out of it.

"This here is one species that graces these islands, and also my best bud!" He gave the wolf some pets on its head. "Yeah, who's a good girl, yes you are!"

"So," Reimu continued, "what other kinds exist?"

Then, out of the basement, came a sound, "bzzzrrrrrrrrt!" A small, orange thing that looked like a sprite came up from the basement, zipped around the room, then floated onto the table right in front of Reimu's face.

"Well, I think someone wants to say hi," Kukui said. The sprite then looked over at a shelf, towards a red thing. It floated over to it, then in a split-second, transferred itself inside.

The red thing began to stumble a bit, then flew off the table right back in front of Reimu's face. The black screen in the middle lit up, and blue bolts shot out of the sides while the sprite's face lit up on the monitor.

"Bzzrrt! Hello there! I'm a Roton-Dex! I can tell you everything you need to know about everything there is to know!"

...it was so weird. These Pokémon, from her observation, seemed extremely similar to youkai, but were not feared by these humans; if anything, they seemed to coexist as if they were inseparable.

"So... these Pokémon... how do you use them?"

"Well," Burnet began, "Pokémon and humans have been together since time immemorial. At first, they were feared by early humans..." Aha, so they were like youkai, at least at one point. "...but then we learned how to control them, work with them, coexist such that one can hardly live without the other. Pokémon and humans have fought wars alongside each other, built cities with each others help, restored habitats, advance technology... but perhaps the thing they're most famous for, is their immense fighting spirit. There isn't a single Pokémon alive who doesn't enjoy a good fight with others of its kind, or other kinds. And we have taken advantage of this, not only to quell their urge to try and take it out on humans out of boredom, but also to settle conflicts, or just for fun. In fact, battling Pokémon is so widespread, that not only do leagues and tournaments for it exist, but we even settle international disputes with them; there hasn't been a major war in hundreds, nay, THOUSANDS of years, and lethal weapons are extremely rare."

So basically, Pokémon battles were these people's version of spell card duels. Something she could latch onto, at least. Perhaps this place was almost an alternate Gensokyo blown up to global proportions?

"Sounds like a pretty good place to live in. And I just happened to get dumped here." She took another sip of tea. "If you don't mind, can I tell my side of the story?"

"Sure, go right ahead, I'm sure you come from a strange land with all sorts of strange things, and we'd just love to hear from you! You know, to get to know you, at least."

She told stories about her past adventures long into the night. She started by briefly explaining to them just what Gensokyo was, then started from where things got interesting. She told them all about the incident with the red mist, the one where Yuyuko tried to make the Saigyou Ayakashi bloom, the story about Suika, the endless night and the lunar princess, the sixty-year bloom, Kanako's faith plot, the unstable weather caused by Tenshi, the crisis in the former Hell, the tale of the Palanquin ship, the resurrection of Miko, Seija's uprising, the Lunar crisis... the further she got into her yarns, the more the three were spellbound by how strange an bizarre the place she hailed from just was.

"So," Lillie asked the shrine maiden, "a sort of safe-haven for things that people no longer believe in."

"Well, I wouldn't say 'safe-haven' is the right term for it. Maybe more of a refuge, if you see half of what goes on there," Reimu replied.

Both professors laughed. After all, Kukui wasn't all too sure himself what he would do if he ran into a nuclear hell raven with a control rod on one arm and all the temperament and intelligence of a six-year-old child. Maybe try and get Suzie to use Stone Edge on it, he supposed, and then run the opposite direction.

"So," Burnet asked Reimu, "these 'youkai' you're describing seem like interesting creatures."

"They're a piece of work, that's for sure," Reimu replied. "Some of them try to eat humans, although they don't do that to humans living in Gensokyo anymore, just errant outsiders. Most of them these days are just content with giving humans as rough a time as possible. A few try to hide their traits and fit into human society. And then there are others that aren't youkai, but they act in more or less the same way. My job is to make sure they don't get out of hand, but also to make sure they're still around, because if they were to disappear, Gensokyo would become highly unstable."

Burnet looked on. "I think I mentioned this already, but they say that in prehistoric times, Pokémon used to act in, well, essentially the same way around humans as these 'youkai' you're describing. But then, ancient civilizations learned to tame and control them. Even now, however, there's still some Pokémon that remain the stuff of legends, and are revered as deities. Like the one that saved you."

Reimu spoke up. "Yeah, what WAS that thing that saved me at that canyon back there?"

"That was Tapu Koko, one of the Guardian Deities of the islands," Kukui responded to her. "They're responsible for safeguarding Alola from outside threats, but they can be very finicky at times, and don't operate in ways we or even other Pokémon expect them to. For it to save you and give you that stone was highly unusual, which meant it saw something special in you."

He continued on, "there are four Guardian Deities, one for each major island in Alola. Tapu Koko is the Deity of this island, Melemele Island. It loves itself a good fight, and in addition to Pokémon battles, we please it by holding regular Alolan sumo matches in its honor. It always watches them from afar, and gives its approval if it thinks the fight was intense enough... and boy, do we know intense fights!" He clapped his hands and slapped the table, startling the others.

"If that bridge hadn't collapsed, you would have been able to climb up the hill and visit the Ruins of Conflict, which is a shrine that ancient Alolans built for all the Guardian Deities thousands of years ago. It's where we pay tribute to it, and where new kahunas are appointed, but... it doesn't always show up. Like I said, these Deities are very finicky, and don't always care for human company. Sometimes, though, they can't get enough of it."

It sounded like, even in this very different and advanced world, faith was still going strong. That was at least one thing like home that Reimu could relish in. Speaking of which...

"Hey," she spoke up, "I was wondering, did you want to see some of the battling techniques I was talking about?" She probably knew better than to simply show some outsider humans her powers, but this was a different dimension and these people didn't seem too phased by magic and magical battles – according to Burnet, human mediums were apparently a thing in this world.

"You know, I think that would be great," Kukui responded. "I always like seeing some new moves I could shove onto Pokémon."

Burnet smiled, while Lillie just looked at her with a look, then smiled and said "yeah, let's see it!"

"Alright then! But, hey, we gotta take this outside. Spell cards are not things you really ought to fire off in small, indoor spaces," Reimu told them.

Outside, the tropical air of the islands whipped across the beach and stirred up the sands. The sweet smell of ocean spray was a new one to Reimu's nose, and it was unlike anything she had yet experienced. And even though it was twilight, it was still pleasantly warm, the glow of the lab that doubled as a house contrasting nicely with the dark-salmon banded sky. Around them, the bushes rustled, obviously from Pokémon hiding inside them.

As she looked for a nice, open spot in which she could do a demonstration, she suddenly heard a voice yell out "hey, Reimu, watch your step!" When she looked down, she what appeared to be a small, dark lump in the sand. Kukui rushed over and picked it up, revealing what she was about to step on. It was a small, brown thing with pink spikes on top and a face with beady, white eyes and a puckered mouth. At that moment, the Rotom-Dex from inside came outside and hovered right next to her. "I can tell you all different kinds of Pokémon species, if you want," it told Reimu. It then proceeded to pull up an entry on the thing in front of her in Kukui's hands:

"_Pyukumuku, the Sea Cucumber Pokémon. These peculiar sea creatures wash up on shores and scour where they wash up until there's no more food, then wash back out to sea with the tides. They don't like being stepped on, and will attempt to use their innards to form a fist shape to punch away the offender, often releasing foul-smelling scents from its glands in doing so."_

"Pyuku?" the sea cucumber chirped at Reimu briefly before Kukui stood back and hurled it back into the sea, after which it began to swam off.

"You gotta watch your feet when you're walking on Alola's beaches," he told Reimu. "You're actually lucky it was just a Pyukumuku, those things are mostly harmless. Sandygast, on the other hand, are much harder to see and might try to possess you to build them up with sand if you're not careful." Reimu didn't know what a Sandygast was, so she decided to ask the Rotom-Dex what it was.

"Hey, Rotom, can you show me a Sandygast?" she asked. The screen went blank for a second while Rotom loaded another page, this time showing what looked like a lump of sand with black eyes and white pupils and a red toy shovel stuck on top.

"_Sandygast, the Sand Heap Pokémon. Said to be born from the grudges of deceased Pokémon, they are a common feature of Alolan Beaches. It is a test of courage in Alola for a child to stick their arm inside the hole in its body, and attempting to grab the shovel on its head is said to allow it to possess children to heap more sand onto it to make it bigger and allow it to grow into Palossand."_

There was a prompt to see this other Pokémon, which she clicked. The new page depicted a larger sand pile in the shape of a castle with similar features.

"_Palossand, the Sand Castle Pokémon. Palossand suck smaller, unsuspecting Pokémon down into their sand pits, where it is said they steal their souls and use those souls to make more Sandygast. If it is injured, it can absorb more sand to build itself back up, and can harden its body if exposed to water."_

If this thing existed in Gensokyo, it would definitely qualify as a youkai. But, suppressing the urge to try and exterminate them, she decided to inquire as to how one Pokémon morphed into another.

"So, professor, what is the relation between these two Pokémon on the screen?"

He looked at the Rotom-Dex and then said "oh, that? Palossand is what we call an evolution of Sandygast, although it's not really 'evolution' in the scientific sense, more like a metamorphosis, but evolution sounds cooler to the kids. Most Pokémon start out as small, weak species, but eventually grow into much stronger beasts that can hold their own in serious battles. The more battling experience a Pokémon gets, the faster this happens. Of course, some Pokémon evolve in other ways. Sandygast is one of the easy ones that only needs to battle a lot, but others require stones, having enough experience at a certain time, such as at night, some need to bond with their trainers sufficiently, all sorts of things. The Rotom-Dex can tell you how different species evolve. And then there are some, like that Pyukumuku, that don't evolve; they're born that way, live that way, and die that way."

Fascinating stuff, she felt. "Tell me, how many species of Pokémon exist in this world?"

"How many species?" the professor responded. "Thousands. There are over four-hundred known to inhabit Alola alone, including some rare ones that can't be found in any other region, at least not in the wild."

If there were thousands of species, it seemed as if they were far more diverse then even the hundreds of different kinds of youkai she knew off the top of her head. Truly, this world was a strange, wonderful place that she wished she could explore more thoroughly, if only for the stories she could tell once she managed to get back home.

Getting back to the task at hand, she found a clearing free of hazards and instructed the other three to stand back while she demonstrated.

"The first thing I should mention is that, as the maiden of Gensokyo's most important shrine, most of my powers are sourced from the blessings of the god of the shrine. First, and foremost, is flight. Most powerful people in Gensokyo can fly, of course, but mine is a special kind of flight which allows for travel between different planes of existence. And all of that, comes from this, my yin-yang orb." She pulled it out of her satchel... and was instantly taken aback both by how heavy it was, and how it both refused to float and was dull as a hunk of lead. She wondered why this was, and then attempted to fly... except all she did was jump off the ground a few times, flailing her arms.

The professors didn't quite understand what was going on. Neither did she. Why were her powers not working today?

She saw Lillie stifling a chuckle. Exasperated, Reimu asked her "what's so funny?"

Lillie looked up at her, then with a straight face, inquired "you know, don't you suppose being sucked through that Ultra Wormhole maybe separated you from that shrine and the source of your powers?"

Crap. She had a point.

And that also meant that the majority of her spell cards, which were faith-based, were duds. This was highly embarrassing for her; thankfully, Yukari didn't have the ability to gap here and make fun of her situation. At least, she assumed Yukari didn't, otherwise she probably would have gapped here and pulled her back home by now.

So she flipped through her deck to find a card that could work here on its own. She found a weak counterattack card she didn't remember the name of, pulled it out, threw it in the air and hoped for the best.

As it flew up, it froze in the air and began to glow, before streams of laser bullets began to stream in a fireworks pattern. In the twilight sky, it made for a spectacular (for the other three – this sort of thing was normal for Reimu) light show, all the different effects scattering across the place. Fortunately, they dissipated before hitting the ground, and the only thing hit by the bullets was a Trumbeak that seemed mildly irritated before flying off.

After a few seconds, it stopped. Luckily, no one else was around, or else they would have asked what on Earth that was.

"It almost looks like Dazzling Gleam," Kukui said, "so if anyone asks, we'll just say we had a Pokémon battle here on the beach and someone used Dazzling Gleam at one point." She was surprised that they weren't more mesmerized, but then, it was just a weak counterattack card, and if there were Pokémon attacks that were like this, then they've probably seen a lot of crazy stuff themselves, too.

Going back inside, the four exchanged some more stories for a couple of hours, including a tale from professor Kukui about how he apparently had an encounter with a herd of wild Bouffalant that almost ended badly, before they decided to hit the sack. Oddly, it seemed, Lillie was mostly silent, making Reimu wonder what she was hiding, or if she was just always quiet.

As the two professors headed for the other side of the cabin, Lillie decided to show Reimu to the room she had up in the loft. Normally, she didn't really let anyone else up there, but she felt comfortable letting another girl sleep in her room.

After they brushed their teeth, she showed Reimu up the ladder. Her room was rather sparse, with just a TV set with a computer attached to it, her tablet, a bed, and a dresser. Nebby was still on the desk, this time snoozing.

"I'm sorry I don't have another bed for you," Lillie apologized to Reimu, "just this sleeping bag."

"That's okay, I'm used to sleeping on the floor."

Reimu didn't really have "sleeping clothes" to speak of, so she wondered if Lillie would be fine at all with her just in her bloomers and her sarashi unwound with no top, but then saw her grab a nightgown out of the closet. "I have one about your size, would you like it?"

Reimu decided to take her up on her offer. It was really soft and silky, she was amazed. As she laid out the sleeping bag, she decided to shoot Lillie one last question.

"Hey, Lillie, so, how did you end up here? If these two professors aren't your parents, who are? You seem a little young to be out on your own."

Lillie hesitated at this question. She didn't quite feel comfortable telling Reimu the whole story of how she wound up there just yet, so decided to tell only a little, maybe some lying.

"Um, well, I... Nebby. Nebby is why." She pointed at the ball of mist sleeping on top of the modem. "You see... I found Nebby... some bad people want it. As for my parents, my father went missing, years ago. And my mother... mmm, can I not talk about it, please?"

Reimu seemed to understand. Her mother died when she was four, exactly how Yukari would never say. Her father was a faceless, nameless nobody who was probably also dead, and she knew Marisa was estranged from her father for various reasons. So, she decided to lay the subject to rest, satisfied she at least knew the gist of it. "Alright, I understand." She cut the lights and lied down while Lillie did the same.

"Good night," she told Lillie.

Outside, she could hear the comforting sound of night bugs, of the type she was used to at home, but there was also the gentle sound the ocean waves made as they came in and out. It was all very soothing, and soon, she melted away into sleep, into dreams.


	5. Salt, Sulfur and Mercury

"Now, I hope each of you know why you are here and why I have called this meeting."

Normally, Yukari wasn't the type to organize huge meetings such as this one, no less in the only place in Gensokyo big enough and formal enough for this purpose, which happened to the Scarlet Devil Mansion's banquet room. However, at the behest of the other two sages, which came out of hiding specifically to address this latest situation, and with Remilia's blessing, she appeared in Aya's news office and instructed her to round up every name on a list of individuals she had written up, each one specifically hand-picked by her due to either their power or previous incident-resolving experience, or both. She told her that by order of the three Youkai Sages, they were to meet in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's banquet hall that night.

Normally, during mansion banquets, the lady herself always occupied the head of the table, but this time deferred to Yukari, given the purpose of this gathering. So she resigned herself to an overhead balcony with a sweeping view of the hall down below, her presence set to establish that, even though this was Yukari's meeting, this was still her house, and no one could forget that. She had Sakuya busy making and serving tea to her and her guests, as was customary.

To either side of Yukari were Kasen and Okina, the other two sages charged to maintain the integrity of the border and Gensokyo's society. In front of them, more than thirty humans, youkai, goddesses, and otherwise, either at the main table or sitting at side tables with a clear view of the sages. As per usual, Ran stood at Yukari's side, while Chen was left to play with the fairies outside. Of the guests who were to attend, only Alice failed to show up: she had requested to stay home to look after Sunshine, a request that was granted; Marisa showed up both in her stead and because she herself was asked to come as well. Everyone else arrived no later than five minutes earlier than they needed to. It didn't matter who you were in Gensokyo, or your motivations; when all three sages requested a meeting such as this, you knew something was both huge, and seriously, seriously wrong.

Yukari then snapped her fingers. A few seconds later, three kappa entered the room, two carting a large, white screen and a third carrying a rounded, rectangular object (a projector) and a power source. The kappa carrying the projector used some indeterminate magic to make it float in the air above the banquet table, before handing Yukari a clicker. The two other kappa positioned the screen against the wall behind Yukari and directly opposite of where Remilia was observing the meeting.

Pressing the red button on the top, the projector flipped on, projecting a slide with some Japanese characters on a blank background which translated to "The Wormhole Incident: What We Know." Most in the room had never seen a projected image before, so for them, this was something very fascinating, especially since it came from the kappa and wasn't overly complex, like half of what they did.

She pressed a button to reveal the first slide, an image of the wormhole captured by Aya just after Reimu was sucked in. Yukari got up from her chair and walked towards the screen, then started walking back and forth in front of it, lecturing everyone in the room on the incident and how it was being handled.

"This," she projected to the crowd, "is an image of the wormhole that appeared earlier this afternoon for about five minutes before closing, for those who did not see it. After it appeared, there was general chaos and bedlam across the valley, especially in the human village. Now, seeing as how this valley sees incidents as frequently as twice a year, something like this causing this amount of pandemonium is unusual. That means, surely, that this portal is just a symptom of an incident beyond incidents."

She took a sip of tea before setting it down and continuing. "Now, some of you were probably wondering if I perhaps caused this, if this is similar to the Spring incident several years ago. The short answer is no, I did not cause this portal to appear. And I shall elaborate why." Some in the room weren't fully convinced Yukari was being sincere, given her rap sheet, but they listened along anyway. "Obviously, I possess a powerful ability to manipulate boundaries: the boundary of life and death, between worlds such as Heaven and Earth, in between Gensokyo and the outside, fantasy and reality, truth and lies, and so on. I can use this power to close the distance between places and things, and travel to and fro. However, I am not a goddess, this power comes with limits, and in particular, there is one type of boundary I am unable to breach: ones between parallel universes and dimensions. And that's what we're dealing with here: a portal to alternate worlds. This means that whoever or whatever created this wormhole is far stronger and much more capable than any being inhabiting this valley, or at the very least, has powers whose context allows for manipulation of things beyond the scope of this realm."

There was a hand raised in the back. It was Mamizou's. "Yes?"

"So in other words, we're dealing with something which is completely alien to our universe."

"Ten points to Gryffindor," Yukari exclaimed. No one was sure what Gryffindor was, but again, Yukari.

"Now, the maiden of the Hakruei Shrine has disappeared through this wormhole. So far, we know she's alive, but in another dimension, because we have seen no anomalies in the border... don't ask me why this is the case, I'm just guessing. Also, she's most likely cut off from her powers here in Gensokyo, as she cannot access or draw power from the shrine's god. This means we cannot say she is definitely safe where she is, because she will be only a little above an average human. Now, can anyone tell me what happens if she dies?"

Marisa was next. "Basically, all Hell breaks loose."

"To an extent," Yukari replied, "but I don't think Hecatia would use it as a cue to try and expand her establishment. But what would happen is not only would the the Border become unstable, since the barrier maiden is a crucial component, but generally, the next person in line to deal with major incidents is the Dragon God – who does NOT like being disturbed and possesses tremendous and horrible power. Combined with the weakened barrier, and there is an extremely high chance – which becomes inevitable after long enough – that unless a replacement maiden, preferably of the Hakurei bloodline, is found, the Border will come crashing down and all Gensokyo destroyed. This would have three undesirable effects: first, everyone in Gensokyo not named Kaguya, Mokou or Eirin when this happens will be killed. Second, it would cause the mass extinction of almost all magical beings across the world, severely disrupting the order of life, death and nature – according to some calculations, it would take centuries to recover from this. And third –" She flipped the next slide, showing a map. "This event would resemble a nuclear detonation on the outside. Not only would the event be visible from space and flatten most of Nagano, but across the sea here, on the northern part of this peninsula that you see," she pointed towards Korea, "is a government that really hates the Japanese and has weapons that could do this. Assuming a cover story is not disseminated, the most likely domino effect of this calamity would be a nuclear war that engulfs the region, especially if Japan and southern Korea's American and Australian allies got involved, and then there would be no Japan – and if it got really out of hand, no rest of human civilization either. And that means no more youkai as well."

It seemed a chilling prospect to all in the room, how this one shrine maiden had not only the weight of Gensokyo on her shoulders, but to an extent, the rest of the world too. It almost made one wonder if she really knew how awesome her responsibility was, for a person known to be a lazy, crazy lady.

"This is just the worst-case scenario, of course, but we always have to assume the worst case." She flipped to the next slide, another blank background with the words "The Plan" on it.

"Now, we the sages have already enacted contingencies to counteract this threat, and act on it as much as possible. We've begun vetting girls in the human village to serve as potential stand-ins in case Reimu cannot be found or does not return. However, we simply do not know how stable the border would be with an untrained maiden not of the Hakurei bloodline or some relation to it. Now, before I get to the main point, I want to point out that until the incident is resolved, there are some... restrictions in place. Humans in the human village, as of now, are not permitted to leave the town limits, and a curfew is in effect. Keine is helping safeguard the human's well-being as well as helping enforce this rule. Furthermore, anyone living outside the village, apart from Marisa, Alice, Yomou, Sakuya, people in this room right now and any students at Keine's school are not permitted to enter under pain of lethal enforcement from us. No human-youkai contact outside of people in this room, plus Alice and schoolchildren, is permitted, and outside human hunts are canceled until further notice." That last one got a few groans from some of the youkai in the room. "I'm sorry, but we cannot afford to permit anything right now that could potentially leave anyone unaccounted for, because of the nature of this threat."

Speaking up again, she then made an announcement. "Everyone invited here today is invited to join a task force to help resolve this incident with us. All of you have been chosen due to your exceptional abilities in solving incidents. Your task will be to monitor any and all anomalous activity, notably the appearance of portals, which you are to log and report to us immediately. Kasen will set up a point of contact where she will take all reports. Furthermore, you will all be asked to be ready to fight, 24/7. If anything other than Reimu is to come out of a portal, it has a high chance of being our perpetrator and you would be under orders to engage, capture, and turn it in as soon as possible for interrogation. All who wish to join, say aye."

Everyone in the room did. And because Marisa did, Alice was bound too.

"Excellent, I figured no one would turn this down. Now, the first thing we need to do is come up with a code name for our task force, something easy to remember so we remember who's in on it. Any suggestions?"

"How about 'Hakurei Hunters,' since we're hunting for Reimu?" Reisen called out.

"I like your thinking, but it sounds too much like we're hunting her for food." Yukari couldn' help but chuckle a bit. "Any others?"

"How about 'Border Guards?'" a voice came from Yuyuko.

"Border guards... oh, wait, I have an idea!" Yukari said excitedly. "How about 'Border Patrol?' I think that describes what we're doing perfectly. All in favor, say aye."

Again, everyone did, even Reisen.

"Alright, Border Patrol it is." She clapped and turned off the projector. "You may break."

As people scattered and chatted with each other, Yukari went up to Remilia at her perch. "I want to thank you again for letting me use your banquet hall. You have no idea how important this all is."

"It is my pleasure," Remy said nobly as she took another sip of her blood tea. "After all, I always serve to please my guests the highest possible experience, no matter their purpose. And I don't underestimate the gravity of the situation. Because if nothing changes, our fates would be most unpleasant indeed."

"...yes, our fates." Yukari felt a chill up her spine for the first time in decades as she stepped down back towards the others.

* * *

Reimu slowly woke up from her sleep, a little groggy and briefly unsure of where she was, before remembering her predicament. It was still a little dark, the sun only starting to rise up over the horizon. Lillie was still sound asleep, and so was Nebby. However, she did not feel tired enough to go back to sleep, so she decided to get up, get her clothes, and head down towards the bathroom to wash up.

She'd been in here a couple times, and was still getting used to the idea of a flush toilet. She looked inside the shower, supposedly where people in this world cleaned themselves unless they were out in the sticks. Investigating the knob, she wondered how the shower was operated, since there wasn't a distinct on/off switch on it to help her out. She turned it one direction, before being blasted in the face with cold water.

"Gyahh!" she exclaimed. The water remained cold, and she was used to cold of course. But she was told it was warm, too, and she thought that might feel better than cold, running water which your body never heated up. So she turned the dial toward red, and it started heating up. Eventually, the temperature was just right, and she climbed in.

She put her hair under the water and started washing it. She looked around and saw various bottles of chemicals claiming to be for hair care. Some were marked with names saying who they were for, such as Lillie's name on one bottle saying it was for "smooth, silky hair." She decided Lillie wouldn't mind to much if she used some, so she put a dab on her hand and lathered it in. She wasn't sure how this was supposed to be good for hair specifically; wasn't that what soap was for? But she digressed; as long as she stayed in this world, she needed to act it. After washing her hair, she grabbed the bar of soap on the side and a cloth and scrubbed her body of dirt and sweat, then got another cloth so she could wash her... feminine places.

After getting out, she dried herself off with a towel, then figured out how to operate the blow dryer so she could dry her hair off quicker. She then briefly styled it so it looked neat, before briefly washing her clothes off so she could wear them again – she really didn't have anything else at the moment. She got her bow and hair tubes on, got her dress together, looked in the mirror to make sure she didn't mess anything up, then went out to the kitchen to see if she could throw together something to eat or drink.

The sun was a little higher in the sky. As she walked out, she saw professor Kukui outside jogging on the beach in shorts and a sweater, and Suzie running alongside. She decided to go out and meet him. It was a little nippy outside still, but nothing like Gensokyo winters sometimes.

The professor started some push-ups when he saw Reimu come by. "Oh hey, Reimu! Didn't think you got up this early!"

"Well, I don't usually, but I couldn't get back to sleep so I just decided to get up. What are you doing?"

"I'm doing my morning exercises! It's how I keep up and how I keep my pecs and six-pack from turning into a keg!" He was dedicated to his physique, that's for sure. Why else would he wear a jacket that showed that he was shirtless all day?

As he did more push ups, Reimu heard a sound of a roar in the sky, and looked up. It appeared to be a large, orange European dragon with what looked like a large sack on the side. It landed right next to the house near a post with a box on it – a mailbox. A boy in a blue-white striped shirt, brown khaki shorts and a black cap with a white design dismounted the dragon carrying a bag with letters in it, pulled out a couple and a rolled up paper, put them in the box, shouted "mail!" got back on the dragon's saddle, then took off again towards the west. Is this how mail is delivered around here? They really use dragons, some of the most powerful beings in existence, as flying mounts to deliver things? She knew the rules here were probably different, of course, but being brought up knowing dragons were the highest being in Gensokyo, it was a little jarring.

As they walked back inside, Kukui got the letters and the paper out of the mail box. When they got in, they could see both Burnet and Lillie were now both up, with Lillie cooking breakfast. Kukui put the paper on the table in front of Burnet, who started reading it while sipping some coffee.

"How was your workout?" she asked Kukui.

"Excellent! Lemme tell ya, Suzie's a piece of work since I managed to get her to learn Close Combat," he replied. "She's like a new pup!"

"Oh, so it's actually working now?" she asked him, regarding the TM.

"Yup! Now I can copy and sell it!"

Burnet smiled. This sore of enthusiastic and over-the-top energy matched only by his dedication to his work was exactly what attracted her to him in the first place, and despite his eccentric tendencies he was one of the best Pokémon professors she had come into in terms of how much work he was able to crank out and how much his theory translated into practice – Suzie, for instance, had 6-0'd entire teams of Pokémon Rock was weak to before.

She looked over at Reimu, who had gotten herself a cup of coffee, perhaps thinking it was tea. She watched as the girl grimaced for a couple seconds as she swallowed it, then reached for some sugar to try and sweeten it.

"Egh, what kind of tea is this?" she asked.

"That's coffee, dear. It's a little different then tea. It's something else people here drink."

Reimu didn't really know what coffee was. No one in Gensokyo drank coffee or grew and ground beans, and while she had read bits and pieces about it from culinary magazines that fell in from the outside, she never really paid it much mind since it wasn't tea. She saw Lillie putting the kettle back inside the coffee machine, before getting some hot water out of the microwave and steeping a bag inside it. Guess she didn't really care for coffee, either. And really, she couldn't blame her. The taste was very strong and different from the tea she was used to.

For breakfast, Lillie cooked up some omelettes with bits of ham, cheese and cilantro mixed in. Reimu could see there was cheese in it; cheese was rare in Gensokyo since there wasn't much in the way of dairy livestock there, and she'd only had it once when she was a child and Yukari gave her some she had brought in from the outside. She also was used to eating things with chopsticks, but didn't see those here. Instead there were forks and knives like what used at banquets and "bring your own sake" Cards against Youkai nights at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. She was familiar with their use; she just didn't use them often. So she cut off a piece and put it in her mouth, letting the earthy, salt-and-peppery taste of the eggs mixed with those of the savory ham, the gooey cheese and the fresh aftertaste of the cilantro meld together in her mouth before swallowing.

Lillie might be shy and awkward, but hot damn, she was a really good chef. No wonder she cooked meals around here.

"Do you like it?" Lillie asked her.

Reimu swallowed first before responding "it's really good! It's... not really like anything I've ever had before, but in a good way." Trying new food was something she always enjoyed doing, especially since she didn't have the funds to buy much aside from the basics. Lillie seemed pleased by the comment, confident that at least one more person enjoyed her cooking. She picked up the dishes and rinsed them off before sticking them in the dishwasher, which she had emptied from the night before. As Reimu watched her actions, she could tell that even though she was a permanent guest of sorts here, she could easily pass for a live-in maid with her skills.

About an hour later, Burnet took off for work at the lab. As she did, Reimu followed her out to her boat, chatting some more the whole way.

"Oh, you boat to work?" Reimu asked confusingly. There weren't any bodies of water large enough in Gensokyo for anyone not named Komachi to _need_ a boat to get anywhere, so the concept of using a boat in that fashion, especially a power boat like Burnet's, was a bit strange.

"The lab is in a town on another island. So like how most people use a car or ride on a Pokémon to work, I take a boat to work." She powered the boat up, waved at Kukui, and sped off into the blue horizon, although Reimu could make out another island in the distance; that must be the island her lab is on.

As Burnet's boat disappeared in the distance, the familiar sound of a Tauros pulling up in front of the house echoed across the beach. It was Hala, the man who helped her here yesterday.

"Hey Professor Kukui! Thought you could use a hand getting some more people to Hau's party!"

"Sure do!" Kukui responded. "Reimu, would you like to come to Hau's birthday party with us? He's really excited to see you."

Oh, Hau. That boy from yesterday. It was his birthday? Well, she guessed it might be a little rude for her not to, and it's not like she had anything better to do. So, she hopped onto the back of Hala's Tauros while Kukui loaded Lillie onto the back of his. The gang made their way back towards Iki Town, where Reimu had fallen near yesterday.

Once they arrived, there was already quite a scene going. Alolan Luau dancers were performing with their Oricorio in front of a crowd, drummers and pipers were making music, children were making arts and crafts. Some birthday party for one kid, it seemed. How important was Hau, or his father or grandfather?

Hau was waiting in front of Hala's house, impatient to see the shrine maiden from the sky. The kid seemed full of energy, because he just would not stop jumping up and down and all around.

"Hau," Hala said whilst dismounting the bull. "I know you've been dying to see her, so here she is."

Reimu walked forward, still a little overwhelmed. "Wait, hold on, who are you again?"

"Oh... oh! Well, I apologize. I must not have properly introduce myself." He did a stomping routine much like sumo wrestlers do, then struck a pose with one palm and foot forward, before standing back up like normal and answering her question. "My names is Hala, and I'm the kahuna here on Melemele Island. And this is my grandson, Hau."

Hau waved his hand cheekily. "Hi there!"

Reimu walked over to him and knelt down to his level. "Well," she smirked, "you're a funny little boy, aren't you? So how old are you? I hear it's your birthday today."

"Eleven!" he said excitedly. "And I can't tell you how long I've waited for today to come!" He then stood up and stopped jumping around so much, and switched to a more laid-back tone. "By the way, where are you from? I heard you came from the sky!"

Reimu knew she could tell the truth, but the truth was a long story and she knew he might not care. So she came up with an answer for him. "Well, I guess you could say I was sent from the heavens down here to this island."

"You sure look like you came from the heavens!" Reimu wasn't sure how to take this comment from an eleven year-old boy, knowing what he meant, so she blushed up a bit.

She decided to distract herself by asking Hala "hey, so, what's so special about eleven? He makes it sound like he's gonna get crowned today."

"Ohoho, I'm glad you asked! Eleven is when boys and girls in Alola can get their first Pokémon and start their Island Challenge!"

"What's an Island Challenge?" Reimu asked him.

Kukui decided to step forward. "The Island Challenge is a rite of passage for kids in Alola. You get your first Pokémon, then you venture across all the islands, where you face different trials, headed up by Trial Captains. Each one is a kid who has completed their Island Challenge, and who passes the torch when they reach twenty to another kid who has completed their challenge. It's mostly aimed at kids, but anyone who comes into possession of a Z-ring is eligible for it, even if they're an elderly monk from Sinnoh."

Kukui continued on. "Anyway, each trial has different rules. Some ask you to fight a certain number of wild Pokémon, others might call for one or two fights against other trainers, or even entirely unique tasks like answering quiz questions or finding ingredients for a soup. Whatever the trial is, they all end with a battle against a Totem Pokémon, which are much tougher versions of a normal Pokémon of their species. Each trial is themed around one type, and if you clear a trial, the captain gives you its Z-crystal, and you move on to the next. Clear all trials on one island, and you gain the privilege to face that island's Kahuna – in the case of this island, you'd face Hala. Grand Trials, as they're called, consist of just a battle against the Kahuna, which is chosen by the Guardian Deity of each island. Like regular trials, each Kahuna has a team themed around one type. Once you defeat a Kahuna, you get their Z-crystal, and a special stamp in your Trainer Passport saying you've cleared that island, after which you go onto the next. You can to the islands in any order you want; the traditional route, though, is Melemele-Akala-Ula'Ula-Poni."

Reimu asked the obvious question. "What happens if you clear all the trials on every island?"

"Well," Kukui trailed on, "traditionally, you then climb Mt. Lanakila, the tallest mountain in Alola. Up there, you'll face all the Kahunas in rematches without breaks. If you manage to do that, you're crowned an Island Challenge Champion. However, due to some, ah, recent events, plus a little suggestion of mine, this year we're changing that up to a new system. But, you'll see what I mean when you get there."

Wait, had she been signed up for this without her permission, or was he talking to Hau? She was very confused. So, she decided to ask some more questions. "What's a Z-ring?"

"This!" Hala produced a stone ring similar to the rock she found yesterday. "I spent last night carving it into a Z-ring for you. Would you like it?"

"Well, I guess the more appropriate question is, would you like to take on the Island Challenge?" Kukui asked. "You don't have to if you don't want to; if you want to focus more on finding a way back home, I completely understand. But this might give you an opportunity to find that way back home as you travel all over the islands, instead of just sitting on one spot hoping it appears."

Reimu thought about it. On one hand, she never passed up a good challenge when offered one. On the other, she really didn't want to get distracted much from her main goal, which was getting home. However, she supposed, if she scoured the islands with a purpose, she might be able to find some clues about what brought her here, and how she could go back. Also, imagine the kinds of stories she could tell when she did get back. Marisa would be jealous. She also didn't have her spell cards or powers; getting a Pokémon would be a good way to ensure she stayed safe until then.

After sitting on it for a minute or two, the answer seemed clear. "I accept your challenge." She took the ring from Hala's hands, clipped it onto her wrist, and flashed it like a champ. A big, fat smile grew across Kukui's face.

"Lookin' good with that bling there, miss Hakurei!"

Lillie watched this scene unfold, and felt this would be the perfect time to present her gift to Hau.

She walked up to him. "Hau, I made you something as well!" She got the ring out of her bag and showed it to him. "I made it myself! For you, for your birthday!"

"Oh wow, thanks!" he said. Lillie smiled.

"...but I already have one."

She fell face-first onto the ground.

Hau walked up to her. "Hey, sorry, I didn't mean THAT. I just meant grandpa already gave me one this morning!"

Hala gave a big-belly laugh at the whole situation. "Oh, I'm sorry Lillie. I guess I should have told you he would get one." He then regained his composure. "But I do have an idea."

Lillie got up off the ground, clearly embarrassed. "What's that?"

Hala looked at Kukui, who then started speaking to her. "Lillie, me, Hala and Burnet have been talking about this for a while, and I think now is the perfect moment. You've got a new, strong friend here, and this wonderful boy of Hala's. You're no longer a child, and we think it's time you took on the Island Challenge for yourself."

Lillie hesitated. She feared he might one day suggest this. There was a reason she was trying to lie low, and it wasn't because of the law – in fact, a restraining order should be keeping her away from... _her_, and in Kukui's and Burnet's custody as godparents. That didn't mean _her_ and _her_ goons weren't after Lillie, and there was only so much the law could do to keep them at arm's length. But then, she didn't train Pokémon, and even though it went against what she grew up with, if she trained strong Pokémon, she had a chance, just in case. Plus, if anything happened, Reimu seemed perfectly willing, perhaps a little _too_ willing, to intervene on her behalf.

So she took her own Z-ring, clipped it onto her wrist, and displayed it a bit awkwardly. She then saw that Hau had done so as well.

Hala gave out another laugh. "Well now, we've got a power trio on our hands!" He clapped his hands, and showed them to the stage in the center of town.

Once there, he produced three Pokéballs, tossed them all at once, and out from them popped three Pokémon, an owl, a cat, and a seal. One of these, Reimu knew, would be her first Pokémon.

"I'll let the birthday boy get first pick," Hala announced. Hau didn't hesitate before gravitating towards the owl. He knelt down to its level, with a big, dumb, toothy grind plastered across his face. The small owl responded by turning its head all the way around with a "koo!" of approval, before flying on top of his head and sitting there like a hat.

"I suppose Rowlet thought you were the right choice too!" Hala told him.

Lillie decided to defer her turn to Reimu, who looked at the two remaining choices. The seal seemed a bit haughty, standing up on its hind flippers and puffing up its chest in a "look at me, I'm so strong" fashion. The big, pink nose and frilly collar-thing also didn't really appeal to her so, no thanks, she thought.

Her attention then turned to the cat, which she noticed had gotten a little closer to her and was eyeing her closely. There was just... something about it. Maybe it was those huge, yellow eyes, or the oversized head compared to its body, or the strange marking on its head, but it gave her a deliciously otherworldly vibe. It was also nowhere near as expressive as the others, or if it was, it wasn't showing it.

Of course, behind Litten's stoic and calculating exterior, it was already imagining Reimu giving it raspberries on its belly, playing spin-the-kitty on the floor, giving it a whole, straight-from-the-sea stack of Wishiwashi in a bowl the size of a semi-truck, and, of course, snuggling in with her to protect each other from monsters at night, before putting its butt in her face at five in the morning with a troll expression on its face.

The only thing it let out was a high-pitched "_nyaa_" while looking down at the ground near Reimu's foot. Reimu, in turn, looked at it, wondering if maybe one of Rin's siblings had somehow gotten misplaced, since it reminded her of the soul-toting kasha.

After a few seconds, Litten walked forward to her, rubbed her leg while purring, and let her pet it. It then ran out in front of her, faced her suddenly, let out a "nyaa-ha!" whilst smiling, then jumped into her outstretched arms while she stood up and held it in the air, still smiling.

"Looks like he loves you!" Hala said. Oh, it's a boy cat. Alright, then. That was fine.

Lillie looked at Reimu's new cat, then down at the one remaining choice. Or, well, she would have, had the Popplio not decided to do a jumping tackle that forced her down to the ground and started licking her face like a dog.

"Ah, ah, ahahahaha," she exclaimed, then laughed. "Alright, alright, you can get off me now!" She held Popplio in her outstretched arms in front of her, and all it did was wriggle for a bit, then stop before giving a single "bar?"

"And I think you'll have lots of fun with that big girl over there," Hala said to her.

So, it was settled. Hau got the grass owl, Rowlet; Reimu got the fire cat, Litten; and Lillie got the sea doggo, Popplio.

Reimu looked at her new cat Pokémon and told it "I think I ought to give you a name." Unfortunately, finding out it was a boy cat kinda ruined her plan to name it Orin, so she had to think of a substitute. "How about if I named you... Sasha?" Sasha was a boy's name in Russia, after all. It was a girl's name too, and it rhymed with kasha, so why not?

The other two were inspired by Reimu's action, so decided to name their new Pokémon as well. Hau loved old magician movies, and when he learned his Rowlet was female also, decided to name her Hedwig. Lillie named her Popplio Adele, since she knew what the silly clown seal would grow up into and would fit the name in due time.

It did not take long for the next logical step after this to come to mind: the inaugural battles of each trainer. But first, Reimu, being an outsider, needed to be drilled on the basics of type effectiveness and commands. And no one was better qualified for the job then the Rotom Dex, which stowed away in Lillie's bag and flew straight out at the shrine maiden.

"Bzzzrt! So, is it true?! You don't know how types work?!"

Reimu still wasn't too sure what to think of the prospect of having a fairy companion, something reserved for certain youkai back at home. But, it was her most helpful and handy source of info on, well, everything related to Pokémon, so she felt she had no choice.

"No, I do not know how types work," she responded. "Will you show me?"

"Absolutely!" It seemed just a little too enthusiastic about even the most basic topics. It quickly pulled up a screen on its monitor displaying the three Pokémon she just saw, including Sasha, whose species name was apparently Litten. Appended to each were words describing which elemental type each one belonged to; in the case of Rowlet, both of them. Red arrows showing type effectiveness were also present.

"Professor," Reimu asked, "what am I seeing here?"

Kukui walked forward and studied the screen. "This is showing how strong these Pokémon are against the others. The red arrows going back tell you that that Pokémon's main attacks are strong against the target. In this case, your Litten is Fire-type, which is strong against Rowlet's Grass-type. Rowlet is also part Flying, but that shouldn't matter for this demonstration. It also takes less damage from Rowlet's Grass attacks. However, Popplio is Water-type, which is strong against Litten's Fire, and resists Litten's Fire attacks. Finishing the cycle, Rowlet is likewise strong against Popplio."

It was decided that Hau should first battle Lillie, so that Reimu could watch and understand this a bit better. So, the stage was cleared, and spectators looked on. Hau and Lillie looked each other in the eye. Hau was confident. Lillie was still wondering if all this was a good idea.

"I challenge you to a battle!" Hau exclaimed energetically. This startled Lillie, who, after a few seconds, managed to spit out "I-I accept your challenge!"

They both sent out their new Pokémon. At this point, each stood ready, ready to receive their trainer's orders.

"This is important," Kukui told Reimu. "Pokémon that respect their trainers will always wait to act. All you have to do at that point is give it a command that it knows and the target, and it will act accordingly."

Reimu seemed to understand, but still had some questions. "How do I know what to tell it?"

"Well," Kukui responded, "each Pokémon can know up to four commands which we call 'moves.' A move can either be an attack meant to damage the opponent, or a special technique that has another effect which either makes the user stronger or the opponent weaker."

"And how do I know what moves it knows?" Reimu asked him.

"Well, for the most part, you're supposed to commit that to memory, but the Rotom-Dex can also reveal what attacks your Pokémon knows."

At that point, Hala immediately declared that the bout was on, at which point Rowlet swiftly took to the air. "Hedwig!" Hau commanded her. "Circle the air and use Leafage on Popplio!"

And Hedwig did precisely that. After ruffling her wings a bit and letting out an excited "koo," she leapt into the air and started harassing Adele with a bunch of leaves shot out of her wings. Lillie responded by trying to get Adele to use Water Gun to shoot the Grass Quill Pokémon out of the air, but under duress, most of them missed, and the ones that did hit were too scattered to do anything other than make Hedwig shake the moisture off in mid-air above the reach of her opponent before going back to dropping leaves onto the poor sea dog.

Reimu studied this fight closely, and thought about how to go about dealing with Hedwig. Because she possessed years of experience in spell card dueling (having partially helped Yukari make the system back when she was only _five_), it did not take her long to zero in on Lillie's errors and how Hau was taking advantage of them, whether or not he was consciously aware of it. She thought about ways she could apply years of aerial and physical combat to a fire cat she just met and come up with a win.

Before long, the fight was over, and Adele, battered by the constant pelting of super-effective leaves, was too tired to keep fighting, forcing Lillie to recall her and concede the match to Hau, who was satisfied about winning his first battle. She looked a bit glum, both because her Pokémon was injured and because she just lost her first real battle, but she was soon comforted by the boy, who walked up to her in a rather humble fashion. "Hey," he said patting her on the back, "don't get down. You're still new at this, and you were at a disadvantage. Just keep doin' it, and you could probably get back at me!"

She looked up. This kid had every reason to gloat, but instead he was being surprisingly mature and professional about his win for his age. She smiled. "Thanks." She walked over to a lady who offered to heal her Pokémon back up.

Next up was Reimu vs. Hau. As she walked up the stage and met him right in the eye, she didn't hesitate to try and intimidate him. Even though he _was _just a child still, he was still clearly more mentally mature than some of the people she's had to deal with, so she felt it didn't quite count as picking on someone smaller than herself, especially since, if anything, she should be at a disadvantage here for not knowing any of this world's lore on battling.

"Well now," she said in a cold, collected tone. "I might be worlds distant from it, but I still represent the Hakurei Shrine, and it is my duty, as the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, to emerge victorious against anyone opposed to me or it."

"Whatever you say!" Hau shouted back as he threw his Pokéball and re-summoned Hedwig.

Reimu followed in kind. "Go get 'em, Sasha!"

As soon as Sasha hit the field, Hedwig, sensing her trainer's will, took to the sky again. Sasha has a type advantage, Hau realized, but since it was also grounded like Adele the same strategy of staying in the air and pelting it with leaves should still work. So he ordered her to use Leafage again, with Sasha as the target.

Reimu, however, was not prepared to let Hau win as easily as he did against Lillie. With a strong voice and a forceful hand, she looked at Sasha and pointed to a spot out of the leaves, looking at them as she did so. "Dodge there!" she shouted, and Sasha did just that. None of the leaves hit him.

Hau ordered another salvo of leaves be shot at the fire cat, and again, Reimu ordered it on where to dodge. As he dodged wave after wave of leaves, he developed a sort of taunting grace in doing so, and even figured out where to go to be safe without Reimu's input, or at least anticipating where she would ask it to go.

This went on until Hedwig started to tire from using too many Leafages in a row; they were now less accurate and thinner. This was her moment to strike, Reimu thought. She briefly examined Hedwig's trajectory, then pointed to a space in the air in front of her.

"Sasha, use Ember right there!" Sasha was a little confused as to why he was being asked to shoot the air and not the target, but did so anyway. The small flame lined up exactly with where Reimu predicted Hedwig would fly, and the shot successfully intercepted the owlet mid-flight. Now on fire, she landed and tried to roll around to put the flames out, but was so exhausted that it didn't work. The flames took their toll as they burnt out on their own; Hau tried to get her to tackle Sasha, but she fell flat in doing so, and she was declared unable to battle.

Rush with victory, Reimu walked over to the boy, who seemed a bit mopey after his loss. "Y'know, I might be new to Pokémon battles," she said to him, "but I've got years of experience fighting all manner of ghouls and crooks, so don't take it so hard." She patted him on the back, which seemed to get his spirits up, as well as his curiosity.

"Ghouls and crooks?" he asked. "What sorts of ghouls and crooks?"

"Well," she said to him. "I'd be more than happy to tell." The three were led back towards Hala's patio, where there was tons of barbecue, birthday cake and ice cream waiting for them.

* * *

"No way," Hau exclaimed through a mouthful of kebab. "SUNS? Like what's up in the sky?!"

"Yes, suns. Tons of them, and with tons of laser bullets scattered in between going in all directions." Hau was absolutely spellbound by her story of how she dove into the underground and dealt with the denizens below, but the idea of a hell-raven girl with a control rod on her arm shooting literal suns at Reimu seemed a tad ridiculous. If nothing else, then _holy tapdancing miltanks_ was the idea of him in that situation scary. So her describing the experience as casually as one might mention buying milk impressed on him a person who's been through some really crazy experiences. He wasn't sure how much of it to believe at first, especially since Reimu couldn't really demonstrate to him how she did any of this, but even seeing her inert yin-yang orb and deck of spell cards was enough to convince him that what she was telling was most likely the truth.

And he wasn't the only one. Several guests at his party were also listening intently to her stories, of how this strange maiden from beyond the wormhole dealt with what sounded like horrifically strong monsters, aliens, demons, vampires, magicians and fairies. Of course, none of them knew that basically all of them were cute, but slightly mentally unstable magical girls with drinking problems, something Reimu used to her advantage to make her stories sound more impressive. It was Hau's party, but at least at the feast, she stole the show.

At one point, the inevitable question came from the crowd as to how she wound up here. So she responded earnestly: "well," she began, "it was kind of sudden. It was a slow morning before it appeared, and when it appeared I immediately went to investigate it. And then, well, it sucked me right in, and now here I am." She left out the part about the jellyfish creature, thinking it might confuse them.

After she finished her stories and most of the party guests finished their food, they shared cake and ice cream while Hau opened his presents.

"Oh wow!" he exclaimed, holding up a box and showing it around like it was some unearth holy artifact. "It's a Nintendo Switch with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe! Thanks, professor!"

Kukui took off his glasses and winked. "Figured you'd like it!" Reimu wasn't sure what Hau just got, and why he was so excited about what looked to her like just some black box, but hey, she did come from a society with essentially medieval levels of technology throughout most of it, so she most likely didn't understand why a Nintendo Switch was such a big deal, or whatever Mario Kart was. So she just kind of nodded and did her best to look happy for the kid.

By the time they got out, it was getting late. As they waved goodbye at Hau, he asked Lillie and Reimu a question.

"Hey, so, I wanted to start my journey tomorrow, and we've all got Z-rings and Pokémon now, so, hey, wanna come?"

Lillie still wasn't sure whether she wanted to do on this journey, but unfortunately for her, Reimu took the liberty of answering for her. "You betcha!"

Hau beamed as he shot back "thanks! I'll meet you down at the professor's lab in the morning, and then we can get going!"

As they walked away from the village, Kukui offered them a rid back on his Tauros, but then Reimu told him "actually, would you mind if we just walked back?"

"Not at all," he responded. "It might take you a little while, especially since Ratatta like to pounce on you this time of day, but you're trainers now! You should be able to kick it to the curb and handle it like champs!"

Reimu grasped Lillies hand. "Don't worry," she told her. "As long as you've got me, you'll be alright." Lillie nodded in understanding. "...thanks." A soft grin appeared on her face.

* * *

It was decided that Nebby should go with the professor back to the lab, to minimize the risk of it running off on them. He also left the girls with some potions, and instructed Reimu on their use. As he charged off into the distance, the two girls hiked through the grassy bluffs over the beaches between Iki Town and the lab.

It was a lovely scene: the sunset turned the sky a brilliant orange, the gentle sea breeze bristled through the beachgrass, and the palm trees swayed with the breeze two. Looking closer, Reimu could notice the Crabrawler who climbed up some of the trees, attempting to knock down coconuts for the others on the ground and each trying to prove themselves the best by being at the top. Of course, as they wandered through the grass, no shortage of Pikipek and Alolan Ratatta gave them trouble, but they were swiftly dealt with by Sasha and Adele. As the two battled together, it almost seemed to the two girls as if Sasha enjoyed fighting alongside Adele despite being type-weak. Perhaps friendship isn't defined by type advantage, Reimu surmised, and in any case, that was a good thing, in comparison to some of the racism present back home.

When they got back to the lab, Kukui already laid out some grilled fruit and veggies for them to eat. They were decent, Reimu felt, but now she knew why Lillie usually cooked. There wasn't as much to talk about from the day, and professor Burnet was not there; apparently she had to stay overnight on Akala to help a colleague out with a project. This sort of thing happened all the time, Kukui explained to them, and it wasn't unusual for her to be here only a couple days a week. So Reimu decided to tell the some more stories, this time some more low-key ones relating to daily life in Gensokyo and how she was sometimes called on by Marisa for help with whatever insane new scheme she had cooked up that week.

"You must have the worst friends," Lillie joked "for them to come to you for help stealing aircraft from a bunch of duck people." Reimu thought that sometimes herself, but people here in Alola didn't seem to get the concept of a place where rational thought was an endangered species, and how laid-back and easygoing their lifestyle was in a tropical paradise where it was warm year-round and there was nothing waiting outside the town limits trying to eat you or burn you into the nearest rock face, so she wasn't sure how else to characterize it.

"Yes," she responded to Lillie, "yes I do."

* * *

The two others went to bed, but Reimu decided to stay up a bit to bone up on some more Pokémon knowledge with the Rotom-Dex. She was amazed as to how there were eighteen types total, with a complicated web of effectiveness against each other; how strange many of these Pokémon got and all the different sorts of shapes and sizes they came in; how many other regions of the world there were beyond these islands – enough to confirm that this wasn't the world just outside Gensokyo, but an alternate reality entirely. And she did this all with her new companion curled up on her lap and keeping her warm, literally. As she went to bed and drifted off, Sasha plopped himself down where her legs were, curled up into a ball and dozed off himself. The beginning of a long, fruitful friendship indeed.


	6. Burst

The morning after the meeting, the sage's rules went into effect: with exceptions, no one allowed in or out of the human village until the incident was resolved. This also meant that any youkai who happened to be living undercover in the village had to be evicted for the time being, since youkai were completely barred from access under the threat of getting their brains blown halfway to the Nameless Hill.

The knock on Sekibanki's door came way too early in the morning in the rokurokubi's opinion. She was not one of the people invited to the meeting the previous night, and had no knowledge of the wormhole's appearance due to her sleeping through it; she only later suspected that there was an incident due to the general tense state across the residents of the village, as well as talk of a rift in the sky.

It took her a minute to get herself back together – quite literally, due to her head falling off the bed an onto the floor the night before – before she walked up to the door to answer it. It was Keine. What did she want?

"Good morning," Keine said firmly. Sekibanki groaned in response, still not fully awake. "I've come to you with bad news. Yesterday, there was a major incident, and now the shrine maiden is missing." She didn't really care, since she never really meddled in other's affairs much; so what if she was missing, as far as she was concerned?

"We had a meeting last night with the sages. We decided that until this incident is resolved and the shrine maiden found, no one from outside the village other then certain humans and their families are allowed in, and that includes all youkai." Keine paused for a moment. "I know I let you live here undercover as long as you cause no trouble, but for now I'm going to have to ask you to leave at once."

What?! Leave? Now? She didn't do anything wrong, she didn't cause the shrine maiden to disappear. But, orders were orders she supposed, and if it came from the Youkai Sages then she had essentially no veto power in the matter.

She was given until sundown to pack up her essentials and relocate outside the village to wait out the incident. At least Keine solicited help from Sakuya to help make this quick. Sekibanki still had a rather dim view of the maid ever since she was sliced to shreds by her knives back during the uprising, and that animosity was shared by the way Sakuya shot her the occasional dull glare in her direction as they rushed belongings to a cave close to the Mausoleum where she was to stay until the incident was resolved. She was never a big fan of the idea of youkai being cave-dwellers, which was part of why she moved to the village in the first place.

After the last of the items that she needed were moved out, Sakuya confirmed with her that everything she wanted was now out, since she would not be able to go back to the village later to get anything until the incident resolved itself. She confirmed, and so Sakuya pulled out her pocket watch. A second later, she was back at the mansion resuming her chores there.

* * *

Sekibanki looked around. Being as prideful as she was, it was a bit humiliating to her to be forced to live in this uncomfortable and dank place by two humans, even if it was supposedly for the greater good. If she weren't promised up and down that this was temporary, she would probably head out right now to see if she could find Seija and convince her to restart her rebellion; according to rumors, Seija was living in a hole in the ground concealed by flowers in the Nameless Hill.

Of course, she was still interested in heading out, but not to find food or anything like that (she had enough for two weeks; very few incidents lasted longer than a few days). Instead, she was more interested in finding out what the heck was going on that was causing things like this to happen. She knew Yukari was a lazy jokester, so for her to completely shut Gensokyo down like this was completely out of character for her. That combined with the looks of dread on the human's faces in the village and the level of seriousness Keine met her with despite doing nothing wrong indicated that this was huge.

This could be highly entertaining, she thought.

She recalled that she was close to the Mausoleum, suggesting that this cave was part of the same system as the one leading to it. By extention, this also meant she was close to the Myouren Temple, which was right on top of it. Either of those places could have good people to go ask about whatever was going on.

She stepped out of the cave to go searching for the temple, when she noticed the soil in the ground near her was being disturbed. After a few moments, a head popped out of the ground which she recognized as belonging to Miko, covered in dirt.

"How are you today?" Miko asked the rokurokubi.

"Well, considering I've been kicked out of my house, not too great." Sekibanki decided that as long as the taoist hermit was a head in the ground, it would be most proper if she were a head on the ground, so she took her head off and placed it on the ground next to Miko's.

"I sensed your desire," Miko told her. "You wish to know why you're living in this cave for the moment, and why everyone is on edge."

"Generally speaking," she replied. She was still wondering why Miko was now reduced to burrowing through the ground, but she guessed it had something to do with Senkai and cracks or something, so she decided not to question the ruler's judgement.

"Well, I supposed the best answer to that question is... the truth." She trailed off into a more serious tone. "I suppose you deserve to know what is going on."

Rather than speak, she raised one arm out of the ground holding a picture. She was present at the meeting, and these pictures were handed out to everyone present. It depicted the wormhole in color, which was all Seikibanki needed to be convinced that this was a serious incident.

"So, what is being done about this?" she asked Miko.

"Well, we've put together a special task force called," she paused for a bit, as if to be dramatic, "the border patrol. Our job is to comb the land for every piece of evidence we can find to figure out who the mysterious culprit is, and if we see any more of these wormholes, to report them and engage as necessary."

"Border patrol" seemed like kind of a cheesy name for a group literally trying to save Gensokyo, but if Yukari came up with that name herself, then it was a little less surprising.

"I've already roused my followers to assist me in this hunt. If you wish, we can recruit you. That way, you might get your house back faster!"

She'd rather not. She never really cared for meddling in other's affairs, and preferred instead to just let the trained incident resolvers do their thing. Besides, she wasn't a powerful enough youkai to take on Gensokyo's highest-level battlers, much less whatever caused _this_. So she respectfully declined the offer.

"Well, alright then, I suppose," Miko replied in a sort of defeated tone. Her head receded back into the ground, and there was no trace of her after that.

* * *

With her questions answered, Sekibanki knew there was no reason for her to really go anywhere, and just veg in this cave, but curiosity struck. She wondered where her buddies Kagerou and Wakasagi were, and she was kind of interested in this hunt for the shrine maiden, if for no other reason then to see people's reactions to the whole affair. So she got together a few cards and some snacks, threw them into a sack, and decided to start poking around to see if she could find anything in her immediate area.

The area surrounding the cave was mostly forest, and there were animals and fairies playing around as usual. Being a youkai herself, she never really gave much thought as to the things hiding in these woods as a human might, since any that saw her would just assume her to be a denizen. That said, she still preferred life in society to this, since she felt that life was more interesting there even if everyone and their mother would be after her if her secret was found out.

After a short while in the woods, she heard some rustling. At first she just assumed it to be a deer or a fairy, and continued on. A few moments later, however, she heard a rather strange cry that sounded like a gaggling of alien turkeys to her. Intrigued, she went off in the direction of the cry, but upon reaching a clearing at the edge of the forest found nothing. She decided to turn around and head back when, out of the bush, a most bizarre figure popped out and shouted the same cry at her, perhaps attempting to scare her.

Of course, she wasn't fazed, so instead she approached it and decided to interrogate it. It was a weird thing: a seemingly wobbly noodle thing with white high-heeled "shoes" with a pink and blue ball on them each and stocky legs, a thin body with a pink, yellow-and-blue swirling pattern and arms with delicate "gloves" at the end which she guessed were its hands, a frilly collar around its neck and a white head with pink and blue dots all over it and starbursts on the side.

"You're pretty bizarre-looking," she told it. "What kind of youkai are you?"

The figure realized that its attempt to spook her didn't work, so it decided to pull another trick. It briefly rolled its head around its "collar" in a silly fashion before removing it completely and tossing it in the air, creating a brilliant, smoky explosion that sent out sparks in all directions like fireworks.

As strange as it was, Sekibank realized that she might just have met another of her own kind. She responded by removing her own head and levitating it in the air. The figure seemed to fidget with excitement. Alright, I got its trust, she told herself, before placing her head back on her neck.

"You're the strangest other rokurokubi I've ever met. What brings you out here?"

It seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if it didn't understand what she was telling it, before it began to seemingly pantomime a scene, using its arms to form a circle shape before pointing at a part of the sky above them.

"Ok, hold on. So, a circle, the sky... are you trying to tell me you came out of a wormhole?"

The figure shook with excitement as if to say that was correct. "And what led you to Gensokyo in the first place?"

The figure responded by gathering some sticks and holding them in its hands before leaping into the air and giving out as intimidating of a shout as it could provide while holding the sticks out as if they were claws, before returning to the ground and miming itself being chucked through the hole.

"I'm not sure I understand. So, what, a big, scary creature threw you through the hole?" It nodded in affirmation. "And let me guess: you're trying to find a way home?" It nodded again.

She asked it another question. "Have you seen a girl in a red-and-white dress with brown hair?" It looked down for a second, the looked up and shook its head to say no. "No? Well, that's okay." She asked it one more question. "Would you like to come with me? I have a place you could stay."

It stood in place for a moment as if to think it over, before its dots lit up, it let out another cry and gave a short, silly dance. "I take that as a yes! Alright, come with me."

The figure followed her back to the cave she was living in for the time being. After arriving, she felt the need to apologize for her situation. "Sorry about the mess," she told it. "I was asked to stay in this cave while this incident is being resolved." The figure didn't seem to care; it was just happy it found someone who accepted its ability to use its head as a weapon.

"By the way," Sekibank asked, "this might sound funny, but do you eat? Are you hungry?" She got some rice cakes she had stashed and gave them to the figure. Its head tilted back on its "collar" slightly, revealing the hole underneath, while it seemed to absorb energy from the rice cakes. "Well, I guess that answers my question," she surmised.

That night, she made a fire and they played games over it, while she asked it if it knew any other tricks. It demonstrated the ability to conjure and hurl a shadowy blob as well as spew flames from the hole underneath its head, demonstrating that it could also fight if it needed to. Satisfied that she had a battling partner, she then went to sleep, while it seemed to petrify itself in place, which for it was probably how it "slept," she felt.


	7. Attracted to a Strong Trainer

"C'mon, are ya girls coming or what?!" Hau shouted back at Reimu and Lillie. He had gotten up bright and early, and popped down to the lab so that the three could start on their adventure. The problem? It was way to early in the morning for them. Reimu alone probably drank three cups of tea and still was not feeling ready to face the world. But, here they were, like it or not, being dragged along by a boy who was so excited to start his adventure.

"Is he always like this?" Reimu asked Lillie.

"Pretty much, at least as long as I've known him," she replied.

Reimu went on, "I'm surprised they let youngsters like him out loose to catch and battle with dangerous creatures; back where I'm from, children aren't allowed to leave the confines of the village until they're at least sixteen, myself exempted because I'm the shrine maiden and have – or had, at least right now – powerful magical abilities to fight off youkai with."

"You'd be surprised," Lillie replied. "I've seen kids as young as four with fully-evolved and trained Hydreigons; not borrowed from anyone, mind you, although they might have received it as a present. Technically, kids need to be at least eleven before they're allowed to start _battling_ Pokémon, but there's no rule saying kids can't own one and then let someone else like their parents train it up for them so they have a strong start."

"That seems like cheating," Reimu said.

"It sort of is, and to tell you the truth, you mostly see that in hardcore trainer families," Lillie answered. "You know, the types who battle to win."

"Sounds like a lot of people I know," Reimu chuckled.

As they walked down the trail, it turned into gravel, then into paved road. And in the distance, the Hau'oil City skyline crept over the horizon and came into view.

Reimu stood for a second, awestruck. Of course, she was aware of cities that seemed to pierce the heavens in the outside world from back home, but she never imagined she would get to see it in person. The sleek, glassy facades of the tallest buildings with many shorter ones at their sides were unlike anything she had seen before in her life.

"That's Hau'oli City," Lillie told her while pointing at it. "It's the capital and largest city in the region."

Hau came back up to them. "Everyone who's anyone on this island lives, works, or visits there. And they got all sorts of stuff! They got all sorts of places to eat, beaches, stadiums, parks – there's even places where you can nab Pokémon while having a malasada!"

Reimu was puzzled. "What's a malasada?"

Hau was all to eager to respond. "Only the best food in the world! They can be sweet and filled with jelly, or nice and spicy and filled with all kinds of meat and veggies, and thrown together and fried until they're all crispy! You can even feed them to you Pokémon!"

"Sounds like health food to me," Reimu replied sarcastically. Hau was less then thrilled, giving a bored, annoyed look at her dry sense of humor.

As they wandered along, they passed a white building with a pink roof. "Oh, Reimu," Lillie said suddenly, "I don't think you've been in a Pokémon center yet. Wanna go inside and see?"

"Uh, sure," Reimu said. She wasn't sure what a Pokémon center was, but she guessed it was important. So they went up the steps and through the automatic door.

Inside, directly in front of them, was a large stall with a pink-haired nurse and a large computer in the background, a café to the left and a couple of guys in aprons behind a counter to the right.

"So, what's this place all about?" Reimu asked.

"This is where you can go to get your Pokémon healed," Lillie answered. "I've seen people do it a lot, but I've never done it myself. You just give them your Pokémon, and they take a few seconds and then they're fully healed. It's also free."

"Free, huh? I wonder how they do that."

"Taxpayer supported," some guy said, although Reimu didn't see who. She actually thought it was impressive that a miracle machine that healed Pokémon back up to full health could be supported by taxes of all things, and it made her wish that she collected taxes for her shrine as a way of making money.

She noticed the laptop next to the Nurse Joy, and went over to inspect it. "Can I ask what this is?" Reimu asked her.

"Oh, that's the PC," Nurse Joy responded. "You can use that to access the Pokémon Storage System. All you need to do is make an account, then you can put your excess Pokémon in at any time, anywhere."

"So you mean you can actually convert Pokémon to data form and they rest in this... network?"

"That's pretty much it!"

Converting life forms to data... yeah, she was pretty sure at this point that the level of technology in this world must surpass even the outside by a wide margin. It almost sounded like Lunarian technology.

"Also, what do you mean by 'excess Pokémon?" Reimu asked again.

"Well, trainers are only allowed to carry six. Any more than that, and extras have to get sent to the box. This happens on the spot, so you don't need to go back to a PC every time you catch a new Pokémon."

"I see." Reimu got some help setting up a new account, and after that the nurse helped Hau and Lillie set up theirs.

She wandered over to the café to see what it was all about. She saw some travel brochures as well as a newsstand for the Hau'oli Register on some racks off to the side. As she walked up to the counter, she saw someone insert a coin into the newsstand and grab a paper out of it. That's interesting, she thought; papers sold by the various Tengu news companies were either kept behind the counter or subscription-only; these were kept in a cabinet that opened when you put your money in. That's something she might mention to Aya if she got back to Gensoyko, then she could get her to shut up about Hatate stealing her business by putting newsstands all over the human village and then keeping them stocked.

"Welcome to the Pokémon Center Café!" the man behind the counter said to her as she walked up. "What can I get you today?"

"I don't know," Reimu told him, "what do you have?"

"I can go ahead and show you our specials for today," he told her. He pointed to the chalk stand over to the side that listed the specials; since it was Monday, that meant Roserade Tea with oat bagels for only ₽300. Before they left, she had been given a decent amount of spending money, and also knew Lillie had a lot more, since she apparently came from a wealthy family. She decided to get that, which the barista behind the man immediately got started brewing.

"Also," he said, "we give these out once a day to our customers." He handed her a paper-wrapped galette and a dozen blue, glossy heart-shaped beans. "Those are Poké Beans," he explained. "Pokémon here in Alola just love them, so we give 'em to them as treats."

She got her drink and her bagel and sat at one of the tables. She saw some people with their Pokémon out of their balls, so she decided to let Sasha out and, thinking about what the man said about the beans, let him nibble on one while she read some more info on battling Pokémon and what kinds of Pokémon were found in Alola.

After a few minutes, she got up and gestured to Sasha to follow her. By now Lillie and Hau were done setting up their accounts and were over at the Poké Mart getting some things. Lillie handed her some potions and extra Poké Balls, explained how to use the potions, and then they all place their items inside the "hyperspace pouches" Kukui had given them before they left, which were made using an ability of some Pokémon not found in Alola named Gardevoir.

As they left the Pokémon Center and continued down the road, Hau opened up a map of the city and started looking for things to do while they were there. That's when he noticed something.

"Hey, guys," he said, "there's a Trainer's School on the way to the city. Wanna go check it out? We could probably learn a thing or two about how to do awesome battles!"

Hau had a point; other than the spar with each other the previous day, neither of them had any real experience catching and battling Pokémon, so it was at least worth a look. It was a half-mile up the road, so it was also fairly close. So they began heading towards it.

When they got there, they came into a somewhat large painted cement building, with a large arch over the entrance that proclaimed the school the "Hau'oli City Official Trainer's School." On each end of the arch was two triangles, with the left side having a yellow and a red triangle and the right side having a pink and a purple triangle, as well as four designs impressed into the sign behind the letters. One of them Reimu could tell was Tapu Koko; she wasn't sure who the others were supposed to be. She decided not to ask, at the risk of sounding like an idiot, and they proceeded into the courtyard, where they were immediately confronted by a boy in a green shirt and shorts and sporting a slicked-back haircut.

"You must be new trainers, aren't you?" he asked slyly.

"What makes you say that?" Reimu said, attempting to sound intimidating. She could tell this boy was obviously full of himself, going by the way he looked and talked himself up. But, of course, Hau had to bounce up in front and shout "of course we are! Why else would we be here?"

"I think you should watch out, because I'm the strongest trainer at this school. I practically eat new trainers for breakfast."

Yeah, he was full of himself, Reimu figured. If she threw him in front of Yuuka, it would be more than enough to make him eat his words before his slow, painful death by having flowers grow out of his skin while she beat him over the head with her bare fists. She was just so eager to prove this punk that she was more then she seemed, and so were her friends.

"Well," she sneered as if she were about to throw down with a lesser youkai who was also too sure of their strength, "if you're so tough, why don't you prove it?"

"I don't just fight random people," he retorted, seeming sure and secure about himself, but Reimu had dealt with these kinds of characters for years and could hear the faint fear in his tone. To Lillie, though, he did sound intimidating, while Hau was just wondering what was holding up the fight. "These kids are all out for morning recess. If you can beat them I'll, I will challenge you."

Reimu decided it was best if she played his game. "Challenge accepted." Lillie breathed a sigh of relief, thankful she didn't have to fight this kid right now, right then.

She turned to Lillie and Hau. "Why don't you two go around and battle some of these kids for me so I – we, have less work." Lillie reluctantly agreed, while Hau was already on the other side of the courtyard battling a girl with a Yungoos.

She decided to ply the grounds herself, battling the various kids who were scattered about. Most tried to show off their knowledge of battling by spouting off random facts; unfortunately, she already knew everything they were telling her, since she did her research beforehand and knew about type matchups that they hadn't even learned yet, plus a few other factors. And these kids proved to put up even less of a fight than Lillie and Hau, mostly because they were using weak, common scrubs like Yungoos and Caterpie that Sasha could easily outfox and outmaneuver before landing one or two decisive blows, with maybe a couple scratches along the way if he messed up his dance-like timing. She took pride in attempting to make Pokémon battles as much of a work of art as danmaku bouts, and was surprised how easily this came to her.

After beating down a few frustrated students, she decided to practice some more by venturing into the grass and bushes to seek out some wild Pokémon to deaden Sasha's bones against. Most of what little she found were just some weak Pokémon that she knew weren't really worth the bother; she wanted something strong that Sasha could fight against.

As she wandered around, she heard some metallic screeching coming from near the fence. She walked over to it, but didn't see anything. So she turned around, and noticed a large, metal ball near the building's generators. She decided to send Sasha out, figuring it was a Pokémon, and have him sneak-attack it with an Ember. Sasha shot the flame, which hit the metal ball, who immediately turned around startled and started shooting electricity everywhere, which caused the generator to overload and the building to black out. Yup, that was a Pokémon, alright. She decided to sic the Rotom Dex on it to find out what it was before it caused more damage.

_"Magnemite, the Magnet Pokémon. Magnemite generates a magnetic field which allows it to levitate off the ground. True to its magnetic nature, it is attracted only to strong trainers, and can be a powerful fighter if befriended."_

The wild Magnemite immediately attempted to flee, but Sasha, blood knight as he had already become, was having none of it, and actively blocked the Magnemite from escaping, forcing to it fight by trying to slam into Sasha. Reimu expertly commanded the fire cat by ordering it to dodge all of Magnemite's attacks, wearing it down enough to open up potential weak spots.

As it was worn down but Sasha's fighting spirit still riding high, however, Reimu thought of something. According to the Dex, Magnemite was Electric/Steel. Steel, she read, was very good defensively because it resisted a lot of things, and she thought that having something that could deal with Water-types for Sasha would be a good idea.

So she ordered out to Sasha to hold back. The cat, who had grown so used to landing decisive victories, was confused, but sensing his trainer was plotting something, was willing to oblige. The wild Magnemite was too tired to do anything, giving Reimu the opportunity she needed to reach into her bag, pull a Poké Ball out of it, and toss it vigorously at the Magnet Pokémon. It provided basically no resistance; the ball snapped it in easily, officially earning Reimu her first caught Pokémon.

The first thing she did was let it out and heal it back up to full strength, to make sure she could use it immediately if she needed to. After she did, she attempted to gain its trust by holding out a Poké Bean; she wasn't sure if the thing even ate solid food, but it was worth a shot. She held it out, and the Magnemite grasped it between its two magnets, then ran a charge through it and held it in the air for a few seconds. Reimu started to wonder what it was doing, and Sasha had taken an interest in it too.

Eventually, the charge created a spark, and the charred remains of the bean fell to the ground. Like a child inspecting their broken toy, it levitated down to the ground to look at the bean, then looked up at Reimu in a sheepish manner, its big, white eye with a tiny pupil looking at her as if it were a child about to be scolded by their mother.

She gave it a gentle pat, then a playful punch. It responded by jutting forward and attempting to tackle her, but it just lodged itself in her stomach instead. She grabbed it and held it out, and it had the most adorable happy face a faceless eye could provide plastered all over.

"Welcome to the family," Reimu told it with a confident smile. She felt she had the prefect counter to whatever that boy out in front was packing.

After recalling both of her Pokémon into their balls, she made her way back out to the front courtyard, with a most sinister smirk and a spring in her step as she pressed forward ready to give the boy his medicine. He found him confronting Lillie and Hau, and got ready to challenge him...

...only to discover that Lillies' Popplio Adele had already given the boy's Grimer the once-over, so much so that he was still mopping parts of it out of the cement so that he could recall it into its ball. She still looked visibly startled.

"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed holding her hands up to her red, embarrassed face. "I swear it was an accident! I think she just got a little too into fighting!"

The boy looked up with an annoyed expression as he wrung out the rest of his Grimer and recalled it into the ball. "You need to learn to control your Pokémon, because otherwise they get a little overboard with their attacking."

Reimu sneered, "I think you're just mad because you lost to a girl."

He looked at her with a blush. "Am not!" But she could tell all too well how flustered he was. It was cute and funny to her.

She walked over to Lillie. "Nice job, whatever you did."

Lillie just looked at her with a confused expression. "Um, thanks? I just told her to attack, and, well, she just blasted a bunch of bubbles at his Pokémon, and it became all soaked and runny and –"

Meanwhile, off to the side, Adele was having fun bouncing Hedwig around in a bubble off her nose. Hedwig didn't seem to mind much, and just rolled with it.

At that moment, the generator rebooted and the lights came back on inside the school. A PA came on, saying "the power has been restored. Recess is over; please come back inside. And would whoever beat Joseph please come to Ms. Snyder's office?"

The three realized that the PA was talking about them. Did they do something wrong? Lillie was worried she might have done something wrong, but the other two didn't seem too concerned, and walked with her inside the building.

They were led by the boy, Joseph, to the teacher's office. Inside the building, it was fairly well-organized, but also larger than it looked from outside – hallways that seemed to go on for miles, and a huge gymnasium where kids trained with their Pokémon, mostly Fighting-types but it wasn't uncommon for kids to cheat at basketball with their Ghost- or Flying-types. The gym alone seemed bigger than Keine's entire schoolhouse. On the walls were obvious signs of past kerfuffles, such as claw marks, chars and burns, places with mold and mildew leftover from wayward Water Guns, Scalds and Hydro Pumps; all these were being cleaned up by janitors all over the building. Various aspiring trainers walked down the hallways, chatting about various things going on in their lives like family matters, how well their training was going, what they did last weekend, and all sort of other idle banter. Outside in the courtyard were just kids, but the students at the school represented a diverse age range from small children to full-grown adults in their 20's.

Reimu elbowed Hau just a bit. "Psst, Hau," she whispered. "I thought you said something about your school being over for the summer."

"Oh, that's just regular school," he answered. "The Trainer's School is open pretty much all year, but I've never gone because dad and grandpa always wanted my help at the ranch at home taking care of the Tauros, and I learned all about Pokémon doing that! But, I've heard from friends this place lets you just drop in and take a couple classes if you need to know some stuff, and that's why I thought it would be a good idea to drop by."

She looked around. All these kids, she realized, were taking classes to learn how to be trainers. Perhaps that's just how some people learned to do it, she guessed, but in her experience, fighting wasn't something you learned to do by reading a book; you went out there, practiced against weaker foes, made mistakes, then worked your way up. She spent a good part of her early years fighting fairies in the forest before her first "big game" incident with the red mist when she was eleven, so she was used to jumping into new things and learning by trial and error – actually, she was prone to just jumping into anything, period, which was probably how she got herself into this mess in the first place, she realized. But, it was too late to cry over spilled milk, and she focused on the task at hand, which was the teacher's office door in front of her, Hau and Lillie.

As it opened, it revealed a petite, black-haired lady with glasses working on her computer and gathering some papers together in a folder before class. She was a lot less imposing than Keine, that's for sure, but to her credit she didn't sound like the headmaster, just a subordinate teacher, so was probably more comparable to one of Keine's assistants.

They shut the door behind them, and she glanced over towards them. She didn't seem too angry, at least. Then again, Yuuka doesn't usually look angry before she mauls you, so Reimu still played it cautiously and signaled to Lillie and Hau to do the same.

She looked up from her work toward them. "Oh, I assume one of you beat one of my students down to a pulp in a match?"

"That's one way you could put it," Reimu responded. She slightly nudged Lillie to fess up to the deed. "Just be honest," she whispered in Lillie's ear. "We're not leavin' till one of us says we did it."

Lillie gulped as she stepped forward. "It was me," she said, with a certain amount of trembling and nervousness in her voice.

The teacher, Ms. Snyder, looked at her for a few moments, before she stood up. "Then you must be a strong trainer!" she said with a smile.

"Oh, uh... thank you?" Lillie asked confused.

Hau butted in, "well, he did boast about being the strongest trainer at this school, but we're all brand-new to training Pokémon, so, that means we're better than the whole school?" He put his hands behind his head and gave a toothy smile.

"Well, I wouldn't say the whole _school_..." the teacher replied, "but he is the strongest in my class. And I hear you all pretty much gave the rest of my class the business, as well. How recently did you become trainers?"

"Like yesterday," Reimu told her.

"I see. Well, if you don't mind, would you all be willing to hang around until after my next class period? I feel like I need to show you something."

Neither of the three knew what she had in mind, but they agreed to stay around until about eleven, which was when her next class got out. They followed her to her class, which was composed of everyone they faced out in the courtyard, including Joseph. They stood at the back of the class, but even there they still got stares from the people they had wiped the floor with only a few minutes before hand.

Ms. Snyder walked up to the front of the classroom, where the write-on projector board was already fired up and am image of a fruit was on it.

"Welcome back, class," she told her students. "I've that you've all battled those three in the back," she pointed at the trio with her stylus, "and that they totally creamed you. Is that right?"

No one wanted to fess up to the failure.

"Well, either way, I all want you to go out and practice battling some more, and not just think that your theory work is enough. I know that you all have been skimping on your practical experience, and I want this to serve as a stern lesson." She turned her attention to the board. "Now, with that out of the way, we will now talk about berries. Can anyone tell me what this is on the board?"

A student raised her hand. "Yes, Mia?"

"That's a Sitrus Berry!" the student said.

"Correct. And can anyone else tell me what it does?"

A boy raised his hand. "Yes, Satoshi?"

"You give it to a Pokémon and then they will eat it if they're injured to get back some energy."

"Excellent. So you all have at least been doing your assigned readings. Now, up here I have a basket of berries, and before next recess I will give them to you so you can practice battling with Pokémon holding them. For now, however, I'm going to demonstrate to you how these berries work. So I'm going to call up a volunteer and we'll have a mock battle." Some students raised their hands, so they could battle the teacher and try to redeem themselves, but she already knew who she wanted. She pointed at Lillie and said "Lillie, can you come up here and show my students how its done?"

She was stunned – she wasn't that good of a trainer, was she? No, she couldn't be, she was very new at this after all! That win was just a fluke! But Reimu was already shoving her up forward, so she didn't really have a say in the matter.

"Rock the house, sistah," she whispered in Lillie's ear. This was going to suck.

Up in front of the class, her knees nervously shook, and she introduced herself to the class. "Um, hi, my name is Lillie," she uttered. "And I'm going to show you all how to... use berries, I guess."

To some of the students, it was hard to believe she was the one who stomped Joseph's face into the curb. She just seemed so delicate and awkward. But, maybe that was her tactic to lull the opponent into a false sense of security.

She and the teacher exchanged bows, and sent out their Pokémon, Adele and a Magnemite. Before they began exchanging blows, the teacher handed each one a Sitrus Berry. "So, in this battle, we will be demonstrating the use of these berries. Lillie, I will let you attack first because you are at a type disadvantage here and you only have one Pokémon."

Lillie nodded in agreement, then ordered Adele to use Water Gun, which she happily did. It was just a short spray – but it was somehow enough to send Magnemite rocketing out the door and into the wall outside the gymnasium, leaving a three inch crater in the wall as it fell down to the ground and fell apart, clearly unable to battle, defeating the purpose of the tutorial.

Ms. Snyder looked outside, wide eyed, then looked back at Adele, then back at the Magnemite before recalling it. "Okay, let's try that again!" she said with a false smile. She sent out her other Pokémon, a Meowth, and then asked Lillie "try using a weaker attack this time so these students can see how a Sitrus Berry is used."

"Alright," Lillie responded. "Um, Adele, use Pound this time, and don't do it so hard. I know you enjoy fighting, but just... go a little softly."

The sea doggo again nodded in agreement. The Meowth bared is claws and began smirking as it thought about the dirty trick it wanted to pull to counter the attack, only to get a bunch of seal landing on top of it licking its face and panting like a dog in affection.

Trouble was, the Meowth was female. She pulled itself out from under Adele and wrapped herself around her trainer's leg as if she were trying to escape a raging butch lesbian, staring back at the seal in fear.

"C'mon, Meowth, use Scratch!" She didn't want to; in her mind, the scent of raging bitches was already filling up the room ready to bear down on her any second, as that... _thing_ stared back at her as if it were totally coming on to her.

Of course, all Adele was doing was giving her a confused look as to why she wasn't fighting back. She even offered the Meowth a berry to try and get it back out from under its trainer, but by now, it was too late. The Meowth fell to the ground covering her head and eyes wide and mouth open, worried about getting gang-raped by steaming bitches at any moment.

Reimu could swear she'd seen this sort of thing somewhere before, but couldn't put a finger on it right then. From her perspective, it just looked like the Meowth didn't want to fight for some reason.

The only thing the befuddled instructor could do was concede defeat and recall the Meowth. She gave a confused stare at Lillie, who stared right back at her. "Well, uh, I guess you really are a strong trainer!" was all the teacher could say.

After the rest of her lesson, she dismissed the students out to the courtyard and then met the three again, specifically Lillie. "You have a really strong Popplio," she said. "Are you sure it isn't over its level?"

"I don't think so," Lillie said. "I just got it from Hala yesterday and she lost to Hau's Rowlet. I'm not sure why she's so strong, all of a sudden."

The Rotom Dex checked her power level, but it only indicated that Adele was at a normal level of power for a newly issued starter Pokémon.

"Well, perhaps she's just special. Be careful with her so she doesn't hurt anyone," Ms. Snyder told Lillie.

As they were about to leave, she stopped them one more time. "Oh, yes, I did say I wanted to give you something." She got some berries together. "You can have these Sitrus Berries for your time." She gave a few to each of them, waved them off, and they were on their way.

* * *

"Well, that was dumb," Reimu said to both Lillie and Hau. "But at least I got a new Pokémon out of it!"

"I don't think it was dumb," Hau told her. "We got to see Lillie's awesome Pokémon in action!"

"Uh, sure," Lillie said, holding her hand up to a smile.

With the school behind them, they set their sights on the city in front of them, ready to tackle everything within.


	8. Reimu's New Look

As they walked down the main avenue, Reimu looked up, and she was amazed. Buildings reaching dozens of stories into the air. Expansive luxury hotels overlooking the ocean. Sunbathers on the beach. All sorts of buildings lining the maintained roads and alleys, and plenty of park space in between all of it. Behind the Lunar Capital, it was the most beautiful town she had ever walked through.

"Wow... look at all this," she told Lillie. "I wonder how much money and manpower went into creating a city this big and modern."

"Well, it is the largest city in the islands," Lillie told her. "All sorts of people from all over the world come here."

"Not hard for me to see why," Reimu replied. "This place is beautiful."

"Yeah..." Lillie trailed off. "Hey, Hau, I was just wondering if –"

He wasn't there.

"Huh, well, I guess he already ran off," Lillie said.

"Should we go looking for him?" Reimu asked her.

"He's probably fine. Knowing him, he's probably stuffing himself and his Pokémon full of malasadas. He might also be out catching some new Pokémon as well. There's a lot of parks here where there's wild Pokémon. And I was about to shoo him off anyway."

Reimu was confused. "Why?"

Lillie looked at her. "Because it would be weird if a little boy were with two older girls out clothes shopping, of course!" She put her hand up to her mouth and snickered a bit.

"Wait, hold on. Clothes shopping? Don't we have enough?" Reimu asked again.

Timid as Lillie was at times, it was amusing to her that Reimu wasn't familiar with the time-honored practice of hitting up the mall and looking at clothes and buying some. To be fair, though, Reimu was from a more backwards society in which shopping for clothes for fun was a bit of a foreign concept, but to Lillie, this was a chance for her to show her something and be the one in charge for once.

"You can't just go around dressed like that here all day, can you?" Lillie asked Reimu. "People will think you're a kimono girl on your way to something all the time. I think you should loosen up a little and try different things."

Well, technically it wasn't a kimono, but there were people in Genoskyo who didn't care about the difference either, so it wasn't surprising that there might be even fewer people in this world who cared either. But, the thought of her wearing clothes like what everyone around her was wearing was a little daunting. She supposed that she would need to in order to fit in more, though, so she went along with Lillie's plan.

Going into the mall, Reimu was taken aback. An entire concourse of shops, diners, children's playstructures, all under a tall, glass roof with hundreds of people crisscrossing each other, some walking with their Pokémon as if they were pets, or even other people. This place continued to amaze her with surprises more breathtaking than the ones before.

Lillie led her into a store specializing in more casual wear, as opposed to other shops, such as the prestigious Gracidea outfit where her family were regular customers. Inside the store was a large selection of shirts, shorts, pants, skirts, blouses, hats and other articles for women.

Reimu pointed out some of the shorts for sale, including many of the "short shorts" that she had seen many other girls wearing in addition to the longer shorts and skirts. "These seem awfully short," she commented. "Wouldn't my bloomers stick out from under them?" Contrary to popular belief among those in Geonsokyo, Reimu didn't actually own panties; she WAS vaguely aware some youkai wore them, but the idea of her wearing such small undergarments with her miko dress never really occurred to her, given how drafty it would be especially during Gensokyo's cold winters.

"Oh, yeah, that," Lillie responded. "I didn't really think about that, did I?" She seemed embarrassed. "I guess we should go ahead and address that, first." She decided she would just help Reimu pick out some basic women's undergarments for now, the kind packed tight in vacuum-sealed bags, just something in bulk so she had a decently large change of clothes. Fancier lingerie could wait for another time. After that, they could pick out some shirts and shorts, some new, comfortable shoes and socks, maybe a cap or visor and some sunglasses to keep the sun out of her eyes. She led Reimu into a dressing room and used a tape measure to quickly get her measurements so they knew which sizes of clothes to get. Medium shirts. 28 waist, 30 length. Size 8 shoe. 34B. She took notes, she didn't want to mess this up.

Once she got all the measurements, she took Reimu for a tour around the store in order to fill out a good traveling wardrobe. They went ahead and snatched some underwear that fit Reimu's sizes, then Lillie paid for those so they could open the bags up and let Reimu change right away so the trying of other clothes would be less awkward. Reimu gravitated towards things which matched her miko outfit, which meant picking out, among other things, a red tank top and white shorts, as well as a matching pair of sneakers and some sturdy sandals. She also found a red-and-white Pokéball visor to go along with all this, and a pair of sepia-tinted sunglasses as well.

As she came out of the fitting room, bag in hand, Lillie absolutely fell in love with what she saw.

"Well, what do you think?" Reimu asked her. "Did I do alright?"

"I think you're adorable!" Lillie answered. "Did you see yourself in the mirror?"

Reimu looked in the mirror, and looking back at her was someone that she swore didn't look like Reimu Hakurei at all, but it was. She still had the hair tubes on the side, but that was just kind of her own personal signature. Then again, she was still wearing something that exposed her armpits, so maybe old habits die hard.

After paying for everything, they briefly looked around to see if they could find Hau anywhere inside the mall, but he was still nowhere to be seen. No worries, Lillie figured, she had his cell number just in case. So they just wandered around for a while, looking at all the various quirky storefronts, before exiting back out to the street.

Just across the street from the mall was the Alola Museum of Culture, which collected all sorts of artifacts from all over the islands, as well as items brought in from abroad that had had an impact on Alolan culture.

"Hey, Reimu," Lillie asked. "Would you like to go check out the museum?"

Reimu had to ask "what's a museum?"

"Oh, well, it's a place where there are many objects on display, and you look at them and there's descriptions of them saying what they are," Lillie responded.

Actually, there was a place kind of like that in the human village – just a small place that you could wander into that had murals depicting Gensokyo's early history, as well as various objects collected from that time period, plus things that fell through the Hakurei Border and were put up on display for all to see. It wasn't terribly interesting, since she'd seen it a million times, but this museum was both very large and most likely contained objects depicting culture she had no idea of. She figured that visiting the museum would give her a better idea of the land she was in, its history, and how it got to where it is now.

"Sure, why not?" Reimu told her. Lillie smiled. So they went inside the museum.

* * *

Inside, they went up to the front desk. Lillie could see the museum was behind rotating bars to track access, so she knew that they had to go up to desk to get in.

"Good morning," the receptionist said to them. "Two of you?"

"Yes, please," Lillie told her.

"Alright. General admission is ₽100. We can also provide you with an audio guide for ₽200, or one of our guides for ₽300 per person. The next in-person guided tour is in ten minutes."

Lillie decided to get into the guided tour group, that way Reimu could ask the guide any question she wanted and get the answers she needed. Once they got in, they just waited for the guide to show up and begin the tour.

She showed up after a few minutes, then waited a few more to see if anyone else was going to be in the group. Once it was clear Reimu and Lillie were the only ones, she commented "well, it looks like it will just be the two of you. Welcome to the Alola Museum of Culture. My name is Jennifer, and I will be your guide." She bowed at them politely, then asked them "may I start with your names and where you are from?"

Lillie started "well, my name is Lillie and I'm actually from this island." Then she looked over to Reimu. She couldn't exactly say she was from Gensokyo, otherwise the guide would wonder what the heck that was. So she decided to just come up with something quick plausible.

"And this is Reimu. She's visiting from Johto."

"I see," Jennifer responded. "Welcome to Alola, Reimu."

Reimu decided to just bow politely to her and go with Lillie's lie. They then started off on the tour.

The first place they arrived at was an exhibit explaining Alola's early history. The tour guide explained all about how Alola was first settled by seafaring aboriginals thousands of years ago, and how each island developed its own civilization, before being united under a chieftain from Melemele Island. On each island, there was a guardian deity who protected that island from destruction, and who would fight each other on occasion to see who was the strongest, inspiring the Battle Royale four-way battling format.

"Can I ask who they are?" Reimu asked Jennifer. "The other three, though; I already know about Tapu Koko."

The guide responded "so, the guardian of Akala Island is Tapu Lele, then there's Tapu Bulu of Ula'ula Island, and Tapu Fini of Poni Island. Each of these guardians are skilled, strong fighters, so much so that humans and regular Pokémon usually avoid them, unless they think they're strong enough to take them. They're also very finicky, and tend to avoid human affairs; each island has a shrine dedicated to them, but they're not guaranteed to show up."

"How finicky?" Reimu asked.

"Well, for instance, Tapu Koko loves to fight. It is constantly flying around, looking for a strong opponent, such as a strong trainer or powerful wild Pokémon. Historically, the people of Melemele would hold ceremonies such as Alolan sumo matches to pay tribute to it, because fights get its attention. It may or may not help out in times of need, since it is ultimately driven by its desire to fight and little else.

"Tapu Lele is not quite as active as Tapu Koko, but it is often seen flying above Akala Island, especially on bright, moonlit nights. It constantly sheds scales which have healing properties; however, in excess these scales can cause people to go mad, which in the past cause warriors to quarrel to the death, either to the indifference or excitement of Tapu Lele.

"Tapu Bulu is very physically strong, strong enough to uproot entire trees and swing them around like nunchucks at aggressors and wrongdoers. In the past, a landslide and storm destroyed a village built on sacred grounds, thought to be its doing. However, its also thought to be the most benevolent of the Tapu, since legend tells of it visiting farms and causing crops to become very bountiful, and spends most of its time lounging near the Ruins of Abundance.

"Tapu Fini is the least personable of the four Tapu, isolating itself on a remote part of the already sparsely populated Poni Island. It can surround itself in a disorienting mist, which in the past caused sailors from other lands to crash into the jagged rocks surrounding the island. Legend has it that those who can meet it can benefit from its special mists that possess healing properties."

This sounded a lot like the sages and some other youkai in Gensokyo; protectors with an alien sense of morals and tended to isolate themselves from society. Reimu found this highly interesting.

The next exhibit was about how Alola was settled by outsiders, mostly from Kanto and Johto but from other places as well. Around them were some other exhibits making mention of dates AGW (after the great war).

This got Reimu asking, "What was the Great War?"

Jennifer answered her question. "The Great War is the largest conflict in all history, and occurred over three thousand years ago. It started as a dispute between the Kalosic peoples of the west, and the Novograd Empire to their east. In time, however, it soon encompassed more than half the world. Millions of men, women, children and their Pokémon died, and it would have gone on for a long time, had the war not been ended in tragedy."

She continued, "one man, known only as AZ, developed a weapon capable of massive destruction. Just to power this weapon required a most abhorrent power source: the souls of Pokémon. This ultimate weapon was fired just once, which was enough to decimate over 50,000 square kilometers of land and kill thousands upon thousands of soldiers. The weapon was strong enough, it stopped the war single-handedly. However, it also created permanent, irreversible effects, such as introducing the radiation that mutated rocks into the first Mega Stones, which would be used later by trainers in battles.

"No war has been fought since, out of fear that an even more destructive weapon would be built and used that could end civilization as we know it. Every dispute since then has been settled with the Pokémon battling system still used today, which was developed as an alternative to armed conflict. The world has enjoyed an era of peace ever since."

Wish I could say the same of home, Reimu thought.

They continued on to a third section, which detailed all the myths and legends of the world's various regions. All around them were large portraits and landscapes, depicting all the various legends from all over the world.

"And this is a mural depicting the conflict between Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre," Jennifer told them. "This is a legend from long ago, even before the war. Ancient aboriginal Hoennese believed the fight heralded the end of the world, as the storms brought on by Kyogre and the drought created by Groudon brought great destruction to their land. The aboriginals pleaded to the skies above, praying for Rayquaza, the titan's keeper, to settle the fight once and for all." She pointed to the figure up top. "Their prayers were answered by Rayquaza, who gained enough power from their prayers to mega-evolve. This is thought to be the first case of a mega evolution in history. It came down from the heavens and used its power to seal away the two titans forever, and brought peace to the land."

Reimu had heard this term "mega evolution" a few times, but wasn't quite clear what it was. She figured she could just find out for herself if she ever came across it somewhere; her main goal was still finding a way home, so she figured she didn't have to learn every single thing about this world and how it worked. But what caught her attention was Rayquaza; as depicted on the mural, it bore a striking resemblance to the Great Dragon of Gensokyo, and was described as having similar abilities. Was it this world's equivalent of the Great Dragon? Was it even the same entity? It seemed far-fetched, but the dragon was described as having awesome power beyond anything that lived in Gensokyo.

"Rayquaza is interesting in that it travels the world, so many cultures have their own stories about it. In Kanto and Johto, it was seen as a somewhat enigmatic figure, a powerful being that seemed to cancel the effects of the rampages of the legendary birds and their keeper, Lugia, and its appearance seemed to calm the monsoons, so it was often regarded as the herald of the dry season, and a protector thought as superior even to the legendary birds.

"In Sinnoh, it was interpreted as a powerful being who was another one of Arceus's creations, and a god of the sky. It is said that it appeared in the skies above Jubilife City the day the city was established.

"And in Novograd, it was believed that Rayquaza was one of the war animals that served the nordic gods, since it frequently appeared in the skies above the battlefields of the Great War."

She walked over to and pointed out another picture. This was a newer-looking picture, depicting a fight between Mega Rayquaza and a bizarre blue-and-orange humanoid figure in space.

"A few years ago, a trainer from Hoenn flew on the back of Rayquaza to shatter a meteor that was headed straight for Hoenn, and would have destroyed it had it reached the surface. She then battled an alien figure named Deoxys who emerged from the meteor and attacked her and Rayquaza. She managed to capture it for herself, and to this day uses it in various world circuits."

That woman must be a complete badass to ride a legendary dragon into space and destroy a meteor with an alien hitching a ride in it, Reimu realized. Maybe she would be lucky enough to meet her.

"Does Alola have its own legends? Beyond the Tapu?" Reimu asked the guide this question because she wanted to know about the Ultra Wormholes and their creators, to see if she could figure out a way home with that knowledge.

Jennifer responded by walking them over to a stained-glass window depicting three figures. "Ancient legends tell of a variety of cosmic beings who visit the Alola region for unknown reasons. Chief among them are two which we call Solgaleo and Lunala." She pointed to the left figure, a large, white lion against an orange background. "Solgaleo is regarded as 'The Beast who Devours the Sunne,' because in its first appearance it seemed to jump out of the sun in a way that made it look like it was eating it. It is considered the emissary of the sun, responsible for giving life to Alola and making its idyllic climate and fertile soils possible. It is also thought to have introduced the knowledge needed to control fire and forge metal to Alola."

She pointed to the figure to the right. "Lunala is regarded as 'The Beast who Calls the Moone,' because in its first appearance, it swooped out of the sky and seemed to cry to the moon. Lunala is said to lead lost spirits to the afterlife, and is also said to be the bringer of pleasant dreams; it is said that its wings act as a dream catcher, absorbing the nightmares of people and Pokémon that it flies over. All told, it is charged with defending Alola from evil spirits. Both these Pokémon are capable of appearing out of Ultra Wormholes, which they are also said to be able to make. What lies on the other side of these wormholes is a mystery, but tales tell of strangers from other worlds who have appeared from these wormholes."

She wasn't the first one, apparently.

"What's that one in the middle? Reimu asked.

"The middle one is a bit more mysterious," Jennifer commented. "Ancient islanders referred to it as Necrozma, since it was thought to be, in essence, the grim reaper, taking souls to the underworld. Legends say that darkness followed it wherever it went, which islanders attributed to it actually absorbing light to power its abilities. According to legends, it first appeared during a total eclipse, which led to a nickname of its own, 'The Beast who Steals the Light.' Like the other two, it too is said to be able to open Ultra Wormholes."

She got something out from behind some files tucked near the stained-glass design. "No one in the modern day has ever actually seen these beasts, so artists impressions were created based on carvings and clay designs from the tribal era." She showed them to Reimu and Lillie. "These and the stained-glass design behind me depict what they could look like, and these are what you'll find in the Pokédex if you look them up." Reimu decided to pull out the Rotom-Dex and asked it to bring up their entries. Naturally, there wasn't much on them, just these hypothetical designs and the lore behind them. Unlike other Pokémon, their typings, abilities, and possible moves were simply listed as "unknown." Scanning the artist's impressions here in the museum was apparently enough for them to count as "seen" for her 'dex, however.

"The ancient Alolans built shrines for both the Tapus and the cosmic beasts. Two sites in particular stand out: the Lake of the Moone on Ula'Ula Island, said to be where the moon shines brightest even on the darkest of nights, and the Altar of the Sunne on Poni Island, constructed by the islanders as a way to try an "reach" the sun and honor the beasts. In addition, as I said before, each of the Tapu have a shrine on each island, carved out of the ruins of ancient cave hollows. They are the Ruins of Conflict, Ruins of Life, Ruins of Abundance and Ruins of Hope."

"And what about the Island Challenge?" Reimu asked.

"The Island Challenge is an ancient rite of passage that goes back centuries, though some claim it goes back further. For reasons not fully understood, radiation from the appearance of Ultra Wormholes irradiates gemstones with a special power that allows Pokémon that utilize them to use powerful techniques, known as Z-moves. Just occasionally, this same radiation finds its way to regular Pokémon and causes them to dramatically increase in power and size. The ancient islanders considered these mutated Pokémon to be sacred beings, known as Totem Pokémon, and that the appearance of these and Z-crystals were gifts from the Tapu and the Beasts. They utilized them to set up a challenge called the Island Challenge, where youths from all over the islands would go around and challenge these Totem Pokémon, which are cared for by Trial Captains. Each Trial Captain is someone who has completed their Island Challenge previously, and passes the torch to another person upon reaching a certain age, usually 18-22 but most commonly 20. It is not, however, unusual for a Trial Captain to reach elderly age before a suitable replacement comes along. In between, they must challenge the island's kahuna, after defeating all the island's Totem Pokémon and collecting their Z-crystals. The final challenge is a rematch against all four kahunas with no break in between each. Each kahuna is selected by the Tapu themselves. Becoming an Island Challenge champion was considered a requirement for children to become adults."

"Fascinating," Reimu replied. Lillie just looked on, amazed how the museum curators knew so much.

"Early explorers who came to these islands were fascinated just as you are right now by this challenge and how it was set up. In fact, upon returning to their homelands they attempted to set up similar challenges, and this is believed to be the origin of Pokémon Leagues in other regions. Gyms were supposed to emulate the individual trials, with powerful trainers called Gym Leaders specializing in a particular type in place of a Totem Pokémon, and badges instead of Z-crystals, capped with an Elite Four at the end emulating the match against the four kahunas on top of Mt. Lanakila, after which one can become champion. But I suppose if you're from Johto you already knew that."

"Er, yeah." She wasn't, but she and Lillie had to keep lying at this point.

* * *

After a while, the two exited the museum, and their thoughts turned to food. Lillie remembered an excellent traditional Alolan grill pit close to the waterfront, so she decided to lead Reimu down in that direction.

"So this place has a very rich history," Reimu commented to Lillie. "You should be proud. And yet," she looked around, seeing all the tourists sunning themselves on the beach, the high-rises, the kids carrying ice cream cones stacked three high, "it almost seems as though there are many who don't care regardless. I wonder, if there were an equivalent to Gensokyo here, how much of these stories and myths would have been sent –"

As she was talking, she bumped into two guys in black skull shirts and baggy shorts.

"Oof! Watch where you're standing!" She exclaimed.

"Yo, say excuse me next time!" one of the punks said. "Yeah, say excuse me!" They made dumb hand gestures.

"Oh. Oh no." Lillie looked on.

"Well, if that's how you're gonna play it," Reimu said brushing herself off, "I guess you two are looking for a high class bout. In which case," she sent Magnemite out, "bring it."

One of them look wide-eyed at the other. "Whoa, you see that? Now she's lookin' for a fight already!"

"Yeah, why don't you fight her? She's obviously not backing down, and look at those eyes, can't you see she's ready to knock up our stuff?"

"Yeah, I'm not gonna mess with that, you crazy? My only mon's gonna get totally zapped by that things electric shocks, y'know? I can't deal with that!"

"Hey, man, what if the boss finds out you turned down a fight with a girl? Then what, everyone's gonna laugh at –"

"GET ON WITH IT," Reimu yelled. One of the grunts snatch the Pokéball out of the other's guy's pocket and sent out his Zubat, which was instantly zapped with Thunder Shock and had to be recalled.

"Hey, why'd you do that?" the grunt yelled at his mate. "Now I gotta give her all the money I saved up for today!"

"Hey, it's not like you were any help back there with the kid with the Rowlet who messed up my Yungoos, now we BOTH gotta haul down to the Pokémon Center and spend the rest of the day without our lunch or dinner money all because you didn't help me out back there –"

"Well maybe if you gave it Rock Tomb like I told you a million times to it wouldn't have ended with my having to be your personal bodyguard –"

"Hey man, look, we gotta head up to the Center now. And we can't tell anyone we got beat by a kid and a lady, ya hear?"

"Oh. Right! Yeah, I forgot about that. Let's do that. But, we gotta give her the money first and –"

They already left.

* * *

"That was stupid," Reimu said to Lillie as they walked towards the grill joint. "Who were those ruffians supposed to be?"

"Team Skull," Lillie replied in a somewhat fearful tone. "They're the biggest and meanest gang in the islands."

"Biggest? Meanest? Please, I've flossed my teeth with fairies more dangerous than those guys," Reimu said. "I wonder if the rest of their gang is like that. If it is, they really gotta come up with something better to do with their lives, or at least spend more time training than bickering at each other."

Lillie might be having a good start as a trainer, but she was nowhere near the lady blood knight that Reimu was. If only she had Reimu's confidence, she felt, then maybe she could stand for herself against the people after her without fear.

Just as they were going inside of the grill joint, they were approached by a boy with pink hair and a white shirt and vest.

"That was impressive," he told Reimu.

"Oh, I'm sorry, who are you?" she asked.

"Oh, I suppose I should introduce myself, apologies. I am Ilmia, and I am the trial captain on this island."

Reimu adjusted her gait. "Oh, so you're the trial captain. Is the trial in this city or..."

"No, I just live here. You didn't think I lived in the cave with the Totem Pokémon, did you?" His tone was still formal and professional, but with a dash of joking in there as well behind his sly half-smile.

"Wouldn't be the worst living conditions I've seen or endured," Reimu retorted. "So, what, are you coming in?"

"Well, why else would I be here?" he replied.

* * *

Inside, they finally found Hau messing around in the arcade, and Lillie briefly let him know they were there. He had already stuffed himself full of malasadas at the malasada place, and was just here to try and earn the TM for Thunderbolt that was behind the counter. He had apparently caught a Pichu while he was out, and said he wanted a strong move for it.

They sat down at a table and talked about many things for a while over food, such as how Ilmia was a graduate at the Trainer's School and how he was regarded as a hero among the kids there. After getting to know him, Reimu decided she was comfortable with telling him about how she got where she was now, which was that she was spat out through an Ultra Wormhole, and what the world she was from was like.

"Well," Ilmia replied, "it sounds like all that tenacity carries over into your battles here as well." He didn't seem to be particularly fazed, as if crazy stuff happens all the time in this world that made her story seem relatively uninteresting in comparison.

"I supposed beating my figurative and literal fists thousands of times against monsters and crooks since I was little has that effect," she smiled. "Anyway, where is your trial site? We're all itching to get on with our trials."

"Just head up Route 2 on the north side of town; you'll find it near the end. It's a few hour's hike, though, so you might not get there until nightfall unless you literally left right now." He looked aside. "I was just about to head back there myself. I can just fly there, but it doesn't look like you've got your Poké Rides yet, so you'll have to walk." He walked out of the establishment, and Reimu, Lille and Hau followed him outside. "Until then, farewell." A Charizard appeared out of the sky and picked up up, before disappearing in the distance.

"I wish I could fly here," Reimu commented as she looked on. "Sadly, it seems my god's powers don't extend beyond the Earthly realm, so I have to make do with whatever I'm able to find here.

"By the way," Hau said, "you're looking good!" He folded his hands behind his head and smiled cheekily.

"Oh, uh, thank!" Reimu replied awkwardly.

After healing up at the Pokémon Center, they decided that there was no longer any point in hanging around the city, nice as it was. There was only one way they were going to get stronger as trainers, and that was to forge ahead.


	9. The Trial of Ilmia

Shoving up the long trail towards the north side of the island where the trial site was, the three were anxious to challenge all the trainers that lie in their way, check out all the cool Pokémon that lived in the bushes and under dirt mounds. And they were not disappointed in that regard, as there were numerous Pokémon waiting in the grass to pounce on nearby trainers, and just as many who were out for the hunt. And the trail was lined with enthusiastic trainers waiting to show off their skills, not that many of them were actually in any shape to take on Hau's enthusiasm for fights, Reimu's tenacity and fiery skill, or Lillie's overpowered Popplio. As they went along, collecting prize money and items form trainers as well as dropped items that were just lying around. Their Pokémon weren't even getting tired that quickly, since they were at most only taking one or two hits per battle before unleashing the business all over them.

Hau was eager to show off his Pichu to Reimu. The mouse Pokémon stood in front of her, presenting itself as if it were a performer on stage, and trying to charm her with its high-pitched, squeaky cry. She knelt down to its level and scratched it behind its ears, which gave her a static shock on her hand.

"Ack!" she exclaimed as she pulled her hand back in surprise. "No wonder this is an Electric-type, it's brimming with energy!" It did a cute little dance and a chirp. "Chu~~"

"Isn't he the best? I can't wait to evolve it, then it will be really strong!" Hau was literally brimming with excitement at the prospect of having his own Pikachu, and then Raichu. Lillie just looked on and stifled a chuckle while Reimu was still shaking her hand in the air trying to get the static charge off.

It was at that moment that a chill went up her spine.

Reimu took notice. "You okay? You look like you just had a shudder."

"No, I'm quite fine, really... in fact, I wasn't really thinking about anything in particular and then... well, I just got a chill up my spine!"

"Could it have something to do with the fact that were standing next to a cemetery?" Hau commented. Lillie looked behind her, and there was the sign: "Hau'oli Cemetery."

Now, Reimu was no stranger to the concept of ghosts living in cemeteries and then popping out on humans who walked near them and try to startle them, and she knew that Ghost was a type that existed, so her immediate thoughts went to a Ghost Pokémon of some sort.

"C'mon, let's go check it out," she said, gesturing to them to follow her in. Lillie wasn't too sure about it, Hau just went along with her idea.

Entering the cemetery, they looked around, but didn't really see anything other than bushes, gravestones, and people mourning their deceased loved ones. Reimu wasn't daunted, though; she knew darn well that ghosts, while they liked pranking humans, were also terribly shy and didn't like being sneaked up upon themselves; Yuyuko was just about the only ghost she'd met that wasn't like that.

"I have an idea," Reimu whispered, not wanting to disrespect those who were there mourning graves. "I'll go out there and act all clueless like I don't know what I'm doing. I want you two to hide in the bushes over there, with your Pokémon out. Now, I don't want you to make any noise, or that will scare the ghost back into hiding. Instead, when it appears, I want you to sneak up on it and then silently gesture your Pokémon to attack it, at which point I'll turn around and then we'll corner it and catch it. Alright?"

Lillie was still unsure. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"We won't know if we don't try, now won't we?"

She stepped out of the bushes and feigned not knowing what she was doing there, looking around and then taking the Rotom-Dex out and using it like she was taking pictures of the landscape, as well as using the Poké Finder to take pictures of various critters in the area.

"Say, Reimu, did you happen to hear about that –"

"Shh!" Reimu had to quiet the Rotom-Dex so as not to scare off any ghosts – then again, Rotom was a Ghost-type itself, so it was completely in-character for it to be acting like an ass when she didn't want it to.

For a few minutes, nothing was happening. Hedwig was getting restless, and Lillie was having to steady Adele to keep her from just jumping out, on top of having to keep Nebby in the bag; its Pokéball still rattled from time to time, reminding Lillie that it really did not appreciate being locked up in that thing, even if it was for its own good.

As Reimu was looking around playing dumb, Hau whispered to Lillie "do you think she knows what she's doing?"

"I don't know. It looks like she's confident this will work though, so –" At that moment, Lillie froze in place and stared.

"What is it?" Hau asked her, not noticing the Gastly right behind him.

"L-l-ook!" she whispered.

He turned around, but the Gastly disappeared. Hau looked puzzled. "I don't see anything."

"It was behind you..." she replied, before looking over at Reimu. It was now hovering over her and was flailing its tongue about while Reimu obliviously continued to take pictures.

Lillie hesitantly looked over to Adele. "Water gun," she quietly commanded, pointing at the Gastly. She complied, then shot a jut of water at the Gastly over Reimu, scoring a direct hit on it. Immediately it yelped and turned invisible.

Reimu noticed this as well as the water left over from the attack dripping down onto her head. "What was that?"

There was a few seconds of silence, where the three just looked around awkwardly.

"Are you kids looking for something?" an older woman asked them.

"Uh, oh, um, well, we're... we're ghost hunting," Reimu replied. "My friend over here felt a chill up her spine, and we were just trying to find the thing that was causing it."

"Oh, I understand," the woman responded. "This cemetery attracts all sorts of ghost Pokémon. It would be a shame if you let them sneak up on you... _a very big shame..._"

Suddenly, an enormous tongue came out of her mouth and licked the air in front of Reimu, only because she flinched backward onto the ground. When she got back up, the Gastly was in front of her was already cackling to itself, apparently quite pleased at its latest surprise. Kogasa would be proud.

Reimu immediately sent out Sasha and ordered him to use Bite. He jumped into the air just as the Gastly attempted to dematerialize; however, the Bite managed to catch just before this happened, and the super-effective attack was enough to weaken Gastly enough to keep it from escaping and force it into fighting. That lick was the only offensive attack that it knew, so it kept attempting to lick Sasha, but he just kept the pressure coming with his flames. Eventually, the slippery Ghost Pokémon was weak enough that Reimu felt confident a Pokéball would be able to capture it, so she reached into her bag and started to fish one out...

...only for one to fly out of the bush and capture it. A few seconds later, it clicked, indicating a successful capture.

"Hey, that was mine!" Reimu cried out. She looked into the bushes and summoned Hau and Lillie out of them, each with an adorably sheepish look on their face.

"Alright, whichever one of you caught it under me, fess up or I'll give both of you a bad time." Her intimidating, piercing gaze went right through their souls, and was forceful enough to paralyze a Pokémon, literally. They just stood there like statues, unwilling to fess up to it.

"Was it you, Hau?" Reimu questioned forcefully. He shook his head. "You sure? I know you tend to do things recklessly. It would be a shame if I had to teach you a lesson with Sasha again."

She continued to scrutinize him, before she spotted Lillie trying to hold back a grin out of the corner of her eye. So she went over to her.

"Know something I don't? She asked Lillie. She tried to continue to look dignified and timid, before a dumb, wide grin holding back laughing spread across her face. After that, she let out a big laugh and brushed Reimu aside to grab the Pokéball. She let the Gastly out, who joined her in laughing.

Reimu just stood there. From what she knew of Lillie so far, this was unlike her, so what was going on? Where did she become a jerk like that Gastly all of a sudden?

"Care to explain?" Reimu asked her.

Lillie decided to tell the truth. "Well, you two have two, and I only have one. It wouldn't be fair for either of you to start getting greedy, now would it?" At the same time she was telling Reimu this, she was trying to keep Gastly from licking her like a dog before eventually tossing a Poké Bean its way to pacify it.

Fair point, Reimu supposed; with this development they now each had two Pokémon to fight with. Still, stealing a fair catch right under her nose? That was something she expected from a certain other blonde-haired girl she knew. She decided just to set it aside, and get on with their journey.

* * *

As they were leaving the cemetery, Hau had an idea. He reached into his bag and grabbed a disc out of it.

"Hey Lillie," he asked her. "You remember that ray gun the professor gave you before you took off? Could you get it out?"

Lillie paused before realizing what he was talking about. "Oh, sure. Hold on." She felt and rustled about her bag for a bit before pulling out what Hau was talking about. It was a ray gun-type device which had a disc drive in the back of it.

"What's that?" Reimu asked them.

Hau held it up as if he were Flash Gordon. "This is a TM device," he proclaimed. He held up the disc in his left hand. "And this is a TM."

"Oh, so you actually managed to win it?" Lillie asked.

"Yup! Got lucky twice and got the max prize on the big wheel! Now I can teach everyone here Thunderbolt!" He sent out his Pichu and demonstrated the move, to show that he had taught it the move.

Reimu decided to quickly look up Thunderbolt's TM on the Rotom-Dex to see what was compatible with it. Magnemite, obviously, but also Lillie's newly caught Gastly, which was interesting. She decided to let Hau zap her Magnemite so that it knew the more powerful Thunderbolt instead of Thunder Shock, and Lillie let him zap Gastly as well – after all, Thunderbolt would be the only strong move that it knew at the moment.

Once they taught their Pokémon new moves, they let them all out and had them simultaneously shoot lightning into the sky as a grand proclamation, you do not mess with them!

This was even visible from Iki Town, where Hala looked on and realized, it had to be them, having a fierce battle of some sort. In fact, it caught the attention of Tapu Koko, since Hala could hear its rooster-like cackle through the canyons below town. He couldn't help but smile.

* * *

They continued up the trail, battling and trouncing all the trainers who were along the way. In fact, it started to get to the point where people further up seemed to avoid them, as if someone from further down warned them about the trio.

As they walked along, they noticed a palm tree with a pile of berries beneath it. "Oh, look!" Hau called out. "A berry tree! We can pick up some berries here, then give 'em to our Pokémon so they can fight better!"

Reimu decided to scan some of the berries to see what was in the pile. According to the Rotom-Dex, mostly Oran, Perism, and Chesto berries. She decided to focus on the more useful ones as she picked them out and placed them into her back.

Suddenly, the berry pile began to shift. This caught them by surprise as they jumped back. A claw poked out of the pile, which lifted a crab out of the pile, who then put up its dukes and challenged them to a fight, which Hau obliged. Obviously, it was helping itself to some berries, and was none too happy that it was being disturbed.

Reimu was curious what this critter was, so she looked it up.

_"Crabrawler, the Boxing Pokémon. It uses its large pincers to punch trees to knock berries out of them, which it then feeds on. They are a proud species, getting into competitions with each other as to who can climb higher than all the others."_

That explains the berry pile. They knew they would need to be more careful with them going forward, since one of those things could be hiding inside. She looked up from the Dex and saw that Hau had somehow managed to capture it and add it to his team. More power to him, she supposed, and they were just about to continue when they noticed a red-and-white bird with a sack walking over and picking up what was left of the berry pile before running back towards a fence near the hillside.

"What's that bird doing with the berries?" Reimu asked. "We should probably go after it." They followed the bird inside a fence. Within the fence were many dirt plots, some of them with bushes growing out of them. When they got near the house, however, the bird was suddenly abducted by two men, and began kicking and flailing it and its pouch all about. It was the two Team Skull grunts.

A man came out the door to the house and demanded them to unhand the bird, which was apparently a Delibird. "That Delibird is one of my assistants! You must unhand it!"

"Dude, we're just lookin' for stuff from it so we can sell it and make ends meet, y'know?" one of the grunts told him. "Yeah, that's what we're doin'! How much stuff does the bird need anyway?"

"Stealing is stealing, and the items in Delibird's bag belong to it! Perhaps you should work on getting a job if you need money. Now unhand it!" the man told them.

"Alright, how about if you challenge us to a match, then if you can win, you can have it back with all its stuff in it!"

The man crossed his arms and began reaching for something. "Well, if that's how you want to do it..."

"Unhand the bird," Reimu projected at the grunts, who immediately turned around and had all the blood run out of their faces in fear.

"Oh snap, it's the Reapers!" one of them yelled.

"We'd better split! Here, you can have the bird!" the other one shouted as he dropped the Delibird back onto the ground as they took off running.

Reimu walked forward to the man. "Sorry about that," she told him. "I take it this is yours?" she said, referring to the Delibird.

"It is," the man replied. "And I do thank you for driving them off for me. For them to just run away from you like that, you must be strong trainers who buried them before."

"Pssh, they didn't even stand a chance," Hau said. "I took on one of them and my Rowlet got out of it without a scratch."

"And my Magnemite won against the other one before the fight even started," Reimu added on.

The man thought for a second before saying "ah, you must be the trio of unbeatable trainers I've been hearing about. Please, come on inside, I've got something for all three of you."

Surprised at the sudden invitation, the three of them followed the man inside of his house, where there were five or six more Delibirds in addition to the one they saved, as well as a couple stacks of bags on one of the counters.

"My name is Diego, but most just call me the Berry Master, because of my farm here, which has all sorts of different berries from all across the islands and beyond." He went over to the counter and got three of the bags, and gave each one of them one bag apiece. "These are berry seeds," he told them. "Just find a suitable plot to grow them in, take care of them, and they'll grow in to bushes that you can harvest more berries from."

They each looked at their bags of seeds which claimed to be assorted. They didn't really have a plot they could plant them in, but they guessed they could dig one in Iki Town or something. Reimu bowed politely to the man while thanking him, and had the other two do the same.

At the same time, the Delibird they saved unloaded its berry harvest onto the counter. "What do these birds do?" Reimu asked the Berry Master.

"They go out and find more berries for me so I can harvest their seeds and make more bags of seed. It's not much, but it does help when my crop isn't ready for harvest yet," he commented. The Delibird then went over and pulled one last item out of its bag, a TM for Brick Break, and handed it to Reimu, seemingly as thanks for saving it.

"Oh. Well, thank you!" she said. The Delibird chirped at it joyfully as it went back over to its brethren.

Just as they were heading out, the Berry Master said "oh, by the way, I actually get one or two of those grunts once every couple of weeks or so. They try to frisk my Delibirds for goodies they find to sell on the street."

"Sounds like you need a better security system," Reimu joked.

"I do have a better security system," he said, pulling out an ultra ball from which a Salamence came out, the beast calling out as it came out of its ball. He petted it under its chin as he thanked them again for sticking up for his Delibirds. They left his farm and continued up the trail.

* * *

It wasn't long after the Berry Master's house that they finally arrived at the Trial Site, as well as a Pokémon Center conveniently located right across from it. "What's a Pokémon Center doing out here in the middle of nowhere?" Reimu asked.

A man in a vest came down from it and answered her question. "Well, they serve weary trainers away from town. In addition to healing Pokémon, centers like this out in the backcountry have rooms and camp sites for traveling trainers out on their Island Challenges and whatnot." He looked over at the trail site, which was inside a cave and marked with a fence with triangles on it. "And because its across from the trial site, it usually gets a lot of business."

That makes some sense, Reimu thought, but it still came off as odd that a place like this out in the countryside was able to get so much business. She didn't imagine enough kids came out to this trial site to make it worthwhile.

They took advantage of the convenient location to heal up their Pokémon and stock up on some more healing items, and because it was early evening and, according to the map, there weren't any services between them and the route looping back to Iki Town, they decided it was best if they each did their trial and spent the night here.

Walking up to the cavern, they saw Ilmia leaning against one of the gate posts, having anticipated them all afternoon.

"You made it," he told them.

"What, you didn't think we would show up? We would just waste time in Hau'oli doing whatever?" Reimu said sarcastically. "So, what's the deal with this trial?"

"Each trial has their own rules, but they all end with a fight against the Totem Pokémon. In this case, all the Pokémon in this trial contain Normal-type Pokémon, and your task will be to defeat three of them emerging from their dens, before you will be allowed to wrestle the Normalium-Z out of the clutches of the Totem Pokémon at the end. You cannot capture any Pokémon here until your trial is finished. However, you may return to any trial site you have cleared to capture the Pokémon and find any goodies within."

He paused to catch his breath and clear his throat before continuing. "You must clear all the trials on each of the four islands before you may challenge the Kahuna in the Grand Trial, then earn your stamp and move on to the next island." He directed their attention toward the trial gate. "Once you pass the gate, you cannot leave the challenge until you either win, or are forced out because you have no usable Pokémon left. You can try a trial as many times as you need in order to win, but just know that. Only one trial-goer is allowed in at a time. Now, who wants to go first?"

Hau instantly volunteered. "I'll go!" he smiled.

"Eager as ever, aren't we, Hau?" Reimu remarked. "In any case, if it's mostly Normal-types in there, you might wanna use our Brick Break TM on that Crabrawler of yours to get through it more easily."

After she got Hau set up, he went bounding through the trial gates. Reimu and Lillie decided to kill time while he was off doing his trial by talking about idle things, which mostly included pepping Lillie up for her first trial. Then, the conversation drifted towards a topic that Reimu had been thinking about.

"So, Lillie, where exactly did you get Nebby from? And why do these bad people want it so bad?"

Lillie decided to speak in a quieter tone, just in case someone was listening in on them. "Uh, well, I stole it from them. They were planning on doing inhumane things to it, but I wouldn't stand with it. So I went in one day and swiped it in my bag."

The Pokéball containing Nebby wiggled around a bit and a "pew!" could be heard coming from inside. Lillie had to steady it to keep it from popping out where there were a bunch of people.

"What kinds of stuff?" Reimu asked. "Were they gonna stick needles in it? Because I know that's what Eirin likes to do to her rabbits, especially Reisen."

"I'm not sure exactly what they were going to do with it," Lillie responded, "but I can tell you it might have something to do with you ending up here."

Reimu's eyes widened when she heard this last bit. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure, exactly. However, I was cornered by the bad people when I was trying to escape, but Nebby teleported us to safety to get us out. However, this knocked it out for quite a while afterward. I heard them talking about some kind of dimensional holes, and after we got out of the museum I started thinking, and I realized they might have been wanting to see if it can open Ultra Wormholes."

Reimu put her fingers up to her hand in a thinking gesture as she said "hmmm, interesting." She started thinking about what this might mean. Why would such a small, seemingly weak puffball have the ability to do things that she was under the impression only gods could do? Why would these people be so interested in it? What were they trying to accomplish? What implications could this have for her prospects of getting back home? And what would happen if they found another avenue to pursue their experiments, or even captured Nebby and Lillie so they could resume whatever it was they were trying to do? What would happen if they succeeded, and what were they plotting to do with their success?

It sounded like an incident beyond an incident.

She thought about what this all could mean, but decided she might be getting ahead of herself and brought herself back to the present. She told Lillie that she would hang onto Nebby for her while she was out during her trial to make sure it didn't try to run off in the middle, especially since it couldn't fight. Lillie agreed it to it; Reimu was someone she had come to trust, and she felt she could trust Nebby to her while she was doing trials. Even so, she still saw herself as Nebby's caretaker, and wanted to prove she was capable enough to guide it onto a safe path, away from the people pursuing her.

After a while, Hau emerged from the trial site, holding his shiny new Normalium-Z in the air like a child holding their first baby tooth that fell out. He then clipped it right into the Z-crystal shaped slot on his Z-ring and showed off his brand new bling to each of them.

"Look what I got!" he boasted.

"Don't get so full of yourself, kiddo," Reimu cautioned. "We'll be joining that club with you soon enough." She patted him on the head, as if to say "that'll do donkey, that'll do."

Ilmia told Reimu he would need a few minutes to reset the trial site for her, so they would have to wait. While they were waiting, Reimu decided it would be fun for Hau to demonstrate Z-moves for her and Lillie. So she got some rocks from a pile on the side of the hill that the trial site cave was buried inside of, set up a mock target in front of Hau, and asked him to send Hedwig out.

She was surprised when, instead of the small, round owlet that Hau had started out with, a larger barn owl popped out of his Pokéball. "What do you think?" he asked. "She evolved while we were in there."

As usual, Reimu got out the Rotom-Dex to check out this new development.

_"Dartrix, the Blade Quill Pokémon. The evolved form of Rowlet, it is very fussy about its appearance and spends most of its time grooming itself. It can shoot sharp leaves with pointed stems at its targets from under its wings."_

As she looked up from the Dex, she could see Hau brushing and cleaning Hedwig, who almost seemed to instruct him on where to brush, where to wipe off the dust and mud, don't touch her head quill, and so on.

"Hey, Hau, focus," Reimu told him. "Could you demonstrate your shiny new Z-move for us?"

Hau looked up and smiled. "Oh, yeah sure, I would... if I didn't make her forget Tackle, which means she can't use it."

Reimu was puzzled. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, so, the way Z-moves work is that the Pokémon has to have a move matching its type and then it upgrades the move, is what Ilmia told me. Or something like that."

"Well, that's a little disappointing," Reimu told him. She was looking forward to seeing what she could use before she actually got the ability to use it. She did realize that Magnemite still had Tackle, so she could probably find out for herself what the move was all about once she got the Z-crystal for herself.

After a few minutes, Ilmia emerged from the cavern and waved Reimu inside of the cave, which she did. Getting her things together, she stepped up forward and marched right in, ready to face whatever was lurking inside with confidence.

* * *

Inside the cavern, the air was muggy with moisture from small streams that flowed through it. All the nutrient-rich basaltic rock walls were covered in thick layers of moss, which glistened in the light of the sunset beaming in from either side of the cave. Logs bridged across precipices, and holes could be seen in the sides of some of the boulders and under stumps where Yungoos had made their dens.

"Welcome to the trial," Ilmia greeted Reimu walking alongside her inside the cave. "Your task if fairly simple: just make it from one side of the cavern to the other, and grab the Z-crystal inside the stone obelisk at the end." He swept his hand out across the cave. "However, Yungoos will jump out at you and attack you as you pass by their dens, and you are required to defeat at least three of them before you may proceed. This being a cave, Zubat and Alolan Diglett will also sometimes appear and attack you; whether or not you decide to deal with them will not affect the outcome of the trial. As a reminder, you may not capture any Pokémon here until after your trial is complete."

Reimu could live with not catching any Pokémon. It didn't sound like anything lived here that she was interested in anyway. Ilmia was quickly flown to the other side of the cave by a Charizard that came out of nowhere, and he stood at the exit, overlooking the cavern. This marked the start of the trial.

Beating three Yungoos sounded easy; after all, she had chewed through at least twenty of them over the course of the day, and she was thoroughly familiar with how they fought (not well at all despite their scowls). So she intentionally walked in front of one of the dens, and sure enough was "ambushed." "Ambushed," because Magnemite instantly sent about 50,000 volts through it, knocking it out.

She quickly scoped out a path through the cavern to figure out the quickest route, then scanned the area for all the Yungoos dens that were present. She went over to the next one, knocking out a wayward Zubat along the way, and got ready to engage the Yungoos within. However, this one decided to withdraw, and not come out.

She needed to knock it out in order to proceed, so she sent out Sasha and had him go in there and smoke out the critter, which he did. Seconds later, black smoke came out of the den as the Yungoos rushed out, with Sasha in pursuit. He managed to Bite onto it and shake it around several times before throwing it back at the rock wall around the den, then sent an Ember at it to finish it off.

Alright, cool, she thought. Just one more to go. She saw a dust cloud coming from one of the nearby dens, so she quickly climbed the rock wall just above her in order to reach it. As she did so, she kicked off a chunk of rock, which fell to the ground and glimmered on one side.

Noticing this, when she got to the top, she sent Magnemite out to go retrieve it and bring it back. While inspecting the rock, she realized that it concealed a piece of gold. So she threw and slammed the rock against the ground and the walls a few times in order to dislodge it from the surrounding black rock, and was rewarded with a small, rough nugget of pure gold. Amazed, she stuck it inside of her bag, and continued with her trial.

As she approached the dust cloud, it retreated back into the den, just like the last one. She then noticed another dust cloud in front of another hole. She went over to it to try and trap it, only for it to retreat again and another dust cloud to appear in front of a third hole. So she went over to the third hole, only for it to go back over to the first.

This was annoying, she thought. How am I supposed to go after it and beat it if it just keeps running away? It's almost like I need three of me in order to stand in front of each hole and...

Then she got an idea. She sent out both Magnemite and Sasha, and ordered each of them at one den hole each in order to block it, and to fire moves into them in order to force it into the last hole. Once they did, she got down to the ground and stuck her arms in.

Once she felt fur, she grabbed on. "C'mere, you little creep!" she exclaimed as she yanked it out of the den, the Loitering Pokémon squirming and wiggling around in her hands. She then threw it into the air, and was about to order Sasha to fire an Ember at it, before a Skarmory flew in out of nowhere and caught it in its mouth before flying out of the cave.

"Well... that didn't go QUITE as planned, but I hope that still counts as a KO," she said to herself. Recalling both her Pokémon, she approached Ilmia and asked him for his opinion on whether she should proceed.

"Okay, so, yeah, I probably didn't deal with that last one 'correctly,'" she stated, "but I hope that and everything else counts as three KOs for you."

Ilmia thought for a bit, then responded "I've never seen anyone else try and trap and beat a Pokémon themselves; that's actually supposed to be illegal except in self-defense. However, I think it was creative to trap the Yungoos in the way that you did; that puzzle trips most people up. Sad to see it end up as a Skarmory's dinner, though..."

"Yeah, sorry, didn't mean that," Reimu told him. "I was going to order Sasha to Ember it in midair and let the impact finish it off."

Ilmia clapped his hands. "What excellent synergy you have with your Pokémon to be able to fight alongside them! Alright I'll let you pass." He got out of the way, and she quickly rushed out.

Outside, there was a grass field with a rocky outcrop in the back behind a single stone obelisk containing the prize. Reimu walked forward cautiously, constantly looking to each of her sides looking for this Totem Pokémon. The closer she got, the more her eyes widened to scan a larger area, the more attuned to sounds her ears got, and the slower her steps became. She looked behind her occasionally, just to make sure it wasn't going to try and sneak up from behind, something many youkai such as Rumia were known to do in order to try and sneak-attack humans like her. Lots of these Pokémon were youkai-like, she noticed, so it didn't hurt to treat them more or less the same way.

Eventually, she reached the obelisk. She looked around. Still no sign of the Totem Pokémon, or any Pokémon for that matter; not even so much as indiscernible bugs could be seen. It was silent, the distant sound of the ocean waves the only ambiance to be had.

She eyed the Z-crystal with anticipation, the shimmering, brilliant milky-diamond gemstone with a symbol on it reflecting the soft orange rays of the sunset off if it. What if its appearance were triggered by her grabbing this? Many thoughts went through her mind in that moment.

She clenched Magnemite's Pokéball with her right hand, and with her left swiftly grabbed the crystal out of the stone and shoved it inside her Z-ring in one deft motion. She then decided to make a break for the exit, just to see if she could beat the Totem Pokémon's game without fighting it.

Whatever hopes she had of being able to do this, however, were soon dashed. An echoing bellow could be heard behind her in the distance, before the figure that made it leapt off a rock peak behind her high into the air, and landed on the ground in front of her with such force as to create a small earthquake, knocking her down to the ground and causing rocks to fall down onto the ground all around the field.

Reimu recovered from the shock of being knocked down and got back up onto her feet, and once she fixed her sunglasses saw the behemoth standing in front of her, staring her down like a predator eyeing its meal. It was blocking the exit and was NOT letting Reimu out without challenging her to a red-hot bout.

This – THIS, she realized – was the Totem Pokémon. It was a truly massive Gumshoos. It wasn't happy. It was surrounded in a bunch of orange energy. And it wanted the blood of a maiden on this night.

The monster stood up and let out a deafening roar before bending down to the ground and challenged her.

"Alright," she said after a few seconds. "If a fight is what you want, then I, the maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, will cast you to the forlorn pile of hopers wishing to question my authority, and that of the line of Hakurei maidens before me." She sent out Magnemite. "Let's rock."

The monster began by letting out another bellow, which summoned two Yungoos out of their hiding spots to back it up in the fight. It then ordered them to attack Magnemite, and they immediately began rushing toward it. But Reimu was having none of it. She ordered it to use Thunderbolt on both of them, which it did, putting its magnets together and letting out a concentrated electrical blast which blasted them apart. Once the dust settled, she saw one was down and out, and the other covered in electrical energy and struggling to move – paralyzed. She simply ordered Magnemite to Tackle it to finish it off.

That left the main beast to tame. It lashed out with its claws, knocking Magnemite back a few feet but otherwise not dealing much damage. It then lunged at it with its teeth hoping to crunch down on it, but Magnemite fired a weak bolt into the beast in self-defense, causing the Gumshoos to stagger back.

This gave Reimu the opening she needed to unleash a can of whoopass. She briefly looked up the Normal-type Z-dance on the Rotom Dex, and then ordered Magnemite to get ready while the Gumshoos was still distracted. Activating her ring and putting her arms up in a Z-shape, she called out to Magnemite "now's you chance! Unleash Breakneck Blitz!"

This caused Magnemite to absorb a massive amount of orange energy from the space around it, similar to the aura surrounding the Gumshoos. It then proceeded to take off like a rocket at high speed. The Gumshoos was able to look up from nursing its jaw long enough to see the train of incoming pain coming straight at it before being knocked down backwards onto the ground. Magnemite then flipped into the air straight above the Gumshoos, looking right down on its target.

"Now, blast it with Thunderbolt!" Reimu called out. A stream of electricity blasted down from where Magnemite was onto the Gumshoos, singeing it as the energy dissipated into the ground around it.

As it landed back on the ground, it stood – or, well, floated – in place, waiting for its next command. But Reimu had other plans. She recalled it, and sent Sasha out.

"Now, Sasha," Reimu said in a low tone with her arms crossed and her eyes closed, "finish it off in any way you choose."

Sasha looked at her with a look of determination and understanding across his face. He wasn't going to let his beloved master down at this critical moment. He wound back as if getting ready to pounce while whipping his tail around in the air, focused on the heavily weakened and struggling, but still conscious, Totem Pokémon in front of him. He emitted low growls as he stalked his prey; in his mind, he imagined himself Godzilla-sized and making off with the Totem in his mouth like a mouse he just caught.

Finally, he made his move, leaping high into the air. As he did, he was engulfed in light, his form beginning to change in midair as he just floated there. Finally, he began to fell back down to the ground and the light wore off, revealing a form which was larger and more feral-looking than the cool-looking kitten that had leapt into the air initially. He then turned around, and kicked the Gumshoos in the face with his newly muscular hind legs. The kick was strong enough to send it up and back, crashing back down into the ground.

The beast let out a low grunt as its arms and legs dropped, signaling defeat.

Reimu was proud at Sasha's accomplishment. She realized he must have evolved, so she took a moment to look up his new form, which seemed to grin right back at her.

_"Torracat, the Fire Cat Pokémon. The evolution of Litten, it is considerably more expressive and wild than its previous form, its temperament matching its fiery powers at last. It uses powerful swipes and kicks to pound its opponents into submission, and it can fire streams of fire from the bell-like flame sac around its neck."_

Sasha purred loudly and rubbed against her leg. She gave him a big shake, and he yowled in affirmation. He sounded more wild now, too.

* * *

Moments later, she was approached by Ilmia, who had watched the whole thing. He was clapping his hands and had a happy expression painted all over his face.

"Bravo! Bravo! I have never seen such a spectacle of a fight in my life before. Do you intentionally make your battles as spectacular as they are intense?"

She replied "well, where I'm from, fighting is practically an art. Part of winning a spell card duel is that your attacks are as pleasing to watch as they are powerful. I decided that myself when Yukari helped me come up with the spell card rules to begin with. And I expect my Pokémon to fight the same way I have trained myself and others, with grace, splendor and an overwhelming amount of force."

Ilmia was impressed. Here in front of him was a true lady of war, a knight who commanded her Pokémon like a general his men, who fought with honor but who was not above cunning tactics. And her tone suggested someone who could fracture your skull in a single motion underneath a seemingly delicate frame, and whose voice projected with an interesting mix of cheekiness, boredom, humor and hard authority. If you were around her, you were beneath her, and she made sure of it whenever possible.

If only his girlfriend was anywhere near as motivated and forceful.

"You're quite the warrior, Reimu. If I were to end up where you're from, I'd probably end up dead pretty quickly," he remarked. Reimu smirked; a pretty boy like him? Yeah, he'd be youkai chow pretty quickly, and even the people in the village would consider him weak, whether or not he actually was. But, if it was a facade, and she was starting to be sure it was, then he could theoretically hold his own.

He led her back out of the trial site, to a waiting Hau and Lillie. Again, he told them he was going to need a bit to reset the trial, especially since a Skarmory made off with one of his Yungoos, the third time that happened in two weeks. Once he was done, it would be Lillie's turn to face the music.

As he stepped back into the cavern, Reimu was approached by the both of them, brimming with curiosity about her performance.

"You did great in there!" Lillie beamed.

Reimu said in a lazy tone, "I did okay."

"Okay?" Hau replied. "I could hear the lightning bolts all the way out here! I'd say you did better than okay, I think you did even better than I did!"

"Well, maybe I did," Reimu told him.

As agreed, Lillie handed over the Pokéball containing Nebby to Reimu as they waited for the trial to be reset. It took thirty minutes, but eventually Ilmia came back out and motioned for Lillie to come challenge his trial.

She hesitated. She wasn't so sure about going into the trial chamber all by herself. She was visibly trembling. However, both Reimu and Hau gave her encouraging looks and words.

"You can do this," Hau told her. "It's honestly not that hard."

"You've got that overpowered Popplio with you, I think you'll rock house. Just believe in yourself."

Lillie nodded her head in understanding and smiled. "Alright. I won't let you down." She then disappeared inside the cave.

* * *

Reimu decided to sit down in front of the Pokémon Center with Hau. She decided to let Nebby out for a bit so it could play; if anyone wanted to steal it, she would beat them up. She wasn't worried.

As the blue-and-purple puffball bounced around the ground and played with a bean Reimu had thrown it, she sat there with Hau while staring at it.

"Hey Hau," she asked him, "this might be a bit of a loaded subject for an eleven year-old, but I was about your age when I had to start facing the real world, so I hope you get it. Have you ever thought about there being forces beyond our worlds who pull the strings and, just occasionally, send us zingers just to mess with us and see how we cope with them?"

He seemed a bit puzzled by this question, but tried to answer nonetheless. "Y'know, I just like to live my life and discover new things as I go along, and if some sort of jerk god decided to mess with my life somehow, I would just find a way to roll with it and then punch back if I can."

"I see," Reimu responded. She continued to monitor Nebby. "I was brought here by some force who wanted to separate me from Gensokyo for whatever reason, beyond the scope of what I'm used to dealing with. And to give you an idea, I've visited the Netherworld, been to Hell and back, traveled through the dream world to infiltrate the moon, stepped into a world parallel to the "real world" which was accessible through any crack if you believed hard enough... heck, my own ability is flying between alternate planes of existence at will, or at least, it is when I have access to my god's blessings."

Hau was intrigued by that last bit, and decided to ask her "how important is faith where you're from? Because here, we give our thanks and blessings to Tapu Koko whenever we can, but it sounds like you go further than that."

Reimu sighed. "Hau, where I'm from, faith, belief and religion are all very serious business. The reason Gensokyo exists to begin with is because when humans no longer fear the unknown or come up with rational explanations for stuff with scientific backing, mystical and magical beings and gods, well, they tend to disappear. Die, if you will. I know after a magazine explaining how echoes actually worked fell through the border one day, echo youkai started poofing out of existence like that," she said while snapping her fingers. "The last ones are being holed up by Miko in Senkai for that reason. The problem is that the people in the outside world from where I live lose faith too easily, lose things to believe in, put spiritual value into. I've heard things about the outside from Yukari's exploits there, how it's an uncaring world, full of corruption, famine, war, poverty and inequality. I've even heard they maintain weapons at all times for seemingly no purpose but to commit mass suicide. And I mean, sure, youkai are dangerous, but I feel humans without faith are infinitely much worse than even the strongest youkai or goddess. Without magic, whimsy, faith, spirituality, they're reduced to the animals they are deep inside, acting on instinct and survival of the fittest. So Gensokyo was created as a last bastion of all that stuff, where magic and faith could live and breathe freely, where humans could have something to believe in, where youkai and fairies could still roam and prank and torment humans without fear of facing extinction. Locked away from the outside world for all eternity. And my duty is to be the gatekeeper, the stewardess who makes sure no one steps out of line and that the integrity of the border separating the land from the outside is maintained."

She took a breath before continuing. "But here? You never let go of faith. Magic and stories are still alive and well here, even with technological advancement. You've learned to live with all that makes the world tick and even control it. I envy you; I wish I could bring my friends in Gensokyo here to see a wider world that might accept them."

To Hau, that was a lot of words. At the same time, it hit him significantly how a teenage girl like her knew so much and thought so much about the world around her. He was amazed at how wise she was, even if she was a bit of a lazy jokester at other times.

Their train of thought was broken when they heard a loud bang coming from the direction of the trial site. They both looked up and saw a column of smoke, dust and debris rising up and forming a mushroom cloud above the cavern.

"I think Lillie won," Reimu remarked. Hau just nodded at her in unsure agreement. Nebby didn't even know what was going on, because it was still focused on that bean.

A few minutes later, Lillie emerge from the cavern, covered in dust, the only thing shiny on her person being the Z-crystal she won from the Totem Gumshoos, who was currently having max revives shoved down its throat by Ilmia in an attempt to resuscitate it.

"I take it you were successful," Reimu told Lillie.

She looked down at Adele, who had now evolved into a Brionne, then looked up at Reimu and said "that bang happened right after she evolved. I simply can't explain it. After I won, Ilmia looked at the Totem Pokémon and then told me in a funny voice that he probably wasn't going to be able to run the trial for a few days." She seemed a little embarrassed. She was always concerned about trainers abusing their Pokémon, but never really thought about the Pokémon themselves being capable of such wanton destruction to the point that others did not want to fight it. And yet why didn't Adele display this when sparring against Hau and Reimu for practice?

Whatever the case, they had all now passed their first trial. Ahead of them was the grand trial against Hala back in Iki Town. But now, they would rest. So they checked out a camp space behind the Pokémon Center, which also included a three-person pup tent and sleeping bags. They had an excellent view of the ocean, which was almost a half-mile beneath them at the bottom of a large sea bluff. Even from their perch, they could see the waves gently rolling in and out, crashing against the rock walls, and the various Wingull and Pelliper gliding over the surface hoping to snatch up some tasty fish who were near the surface, before returning to den in hollows in the side of the bluffs rising over the thin beaches at the bottom.

As the sun set over the horizon, tinting the sky pinkish-orange and casting a far reaching glimmer across the sea, Reimu stood at the edge of the bluff, the winds whipping in against her and causing her hair to flow like the waves the winds helped push in.

"'mazing, isn't it?" Hau commented as he walked up to her.

To Reimu, "amazing" didn't do the sight justice. She had never seen the ocean before in her life, and was still amazed at how it seemed to go on forever. Of course, she knew it didn't really go on forever, but it was so vast that it overtook the horizon and made it certainly seem that way. She wondered just how far out in the ocean Alola was, how far she would need to travel before encountering other land, or indeed the continent.

As the light died down, people began to make campfires or fire up their grills to cook dinner. Dinner for the three was some hot dogs that they had picked up back in Hau'oli, which they cooked on skewers and roasted over the fire while telling each other some more stories.

"Alright, so, there was this one time where Remilia was hosting a talent show in the ballroom of her mansion," Reimu told Hau and Lillie as they listened on. "Cirno got up onto the stage and tried to show us how she was the strongest fighter of anyone in the room. Now, keep in mind, she's the most powerful fairy, which still isn't much because most fairies will go down to so much as smacking them with a broom."

She took a bite out of her hot dog before continuing. "So she had Daiyousei bring up a wood target and tie it down so she had something to demonstrate her new technique on." She used hand gestures to describe what happened next. "She pulled out a spell card no had seen, which struck me as impressive because Cirno actually managed to come up with her own spell card by herself. After she played it, she put her hands together like this, then shot a massive wave of snow and ice out from them. Now, this wave was HUGE, and knocked down everything in the room that wasn't bolted down, froze people in place, and there was just this white haze for a few seconds before we saw that the entire ballroom was covered in snow and enormous ice crystals."

Lillie sipped on some punch. "And then what?"

"Well, we pretty much beat the crap out of her after that, before Remilia herself impaled her with a spear. She respawned, of course, since all fae respawn instantly after dying. So we just continued to beat on her the rest of the night while Keine managed to get Mokou to come to the mansion and melt all the snow and free everyone who was frozen, who then started to beat on Cirno after that. I think Cirno died about 1,283 times that night – no, I wasn't keeping count, one of Nitori's friends was – which was a new record. She still walked away from it like nothing happened, no worse for wear."

She paused before dropping the punchline: "and the best part? The target was still intact." All three of them had a good laugh over that one, even if dying over a thousand times seemed really brutal. "So, is she really that stupid?" Hau asked.

"Well, I wouldn't quite call her _stupid_ – she's actually pretty sharp and clever by fairy standards. But, again, that's not really saying a whole lot, since she only has about the common sense of a mentally restarted nine year old, and looks like she's nine, too, even though she's actually older than Remilia, who's past five hundred despite looking about thirteen. So she tends to get herself into situations with a lethally high amount of cockiness about her strength, which usually gets her killed."

Hau decided to ask a dumb question, just because he thought of it. "So if she's fairy, would that make her immune to Dragon-type attacks?"

Reimu scratched her head. "I wouldn't know, because he have neither something with a Dragon-type move nor Cirno here with us to test it. If nothing else, she got vaporized the one time she met a dragon, but I guess it didn't really use an 'attack,' per se, since it barely registered that she was there to begin with."

"What kinds of Dragons are in Gensokyo?" Lillie asked.

"Not many, but they're all very powerful. Dragons are actually the most powerful type of being in Gensokyo, since many of them can manipulate the weather, change the landscape, affect life force, lead and guide spirits, and in the case of the Great Dragon, travel in and out of the Hakurei Border itself."

She finished her hot dog before asking "and it looks like you have some really interesting Dragon legends here as well. Like that Rayquaza the museum lady was talking about. Looking at it gave me a lot of vibes of the Great Dragon."

A new voice chimed into their conversation "the Tao trio."

The three of them looked around trying to find the person the voice belonged to, before catching sight of a man with long, green hair and a black cap.

"Would you mind if I joined your conversation?" he asked them.

Reimu was a little apprehensive. "Who are you?"

He held his hand to his heart. "Oh, sorry, I should have introduced myself. I am N."

Lillie then spoke up. "Wait, that N? I've heard about you, you're that guy who – "

" – led Team Plasma before walking out on it. You would be correct." He sat down in front of the fire between Hau and Lillie, facing Reimu.

"Wanna hot dog?" Hau asked him.

"I'm fine," N told him. "I just came over here because I heard about you three talking about dragons."

"What do you know about dragons?" Reimu asked him.

He took a breath before starting a story. "Thousands of years ago in Unova, a large meteor fell out of the sky near a village. After the impact, the villagers inspected the crater, which was massive and went down seemingly forever.

"They made it down to the bottom, where a large rock sat in the middle of the impact. The rock cracked, and then blasted open, revealing a powerful dragon with control over fire, ice and lightning. The villagers revered it as a deity, and for centuries afterward, a prosperous civilization grew in Unova, and the being which they called Kyurem, came to be central to Unovan Taoism."

He continued, "however, one day, two princes, who were brothers, got into a dispute over truth and ideals. This dispute eventually grew into a bloody civil war, which was part of the larger Great War. With its civilization split between truth and ideals, Kyurem split into three beings: the fire dragon Reshiram, who represented truth; Zekrom, the lightning dragon who represented ideals; and Kyurem's own icy husk, which represented void.

"The war soon ended, leaving behind immense ruin, and both brothers were dead. Anguished by the loss of his sons and the dispute which had led them to war, the king attempted to bring the land back together, in order to bring Kyurem together. But by then, it was too late, as the two light and dark dragons had disappeared, and Kyurem cast in self-exile at the bottom of the Giant Chasm.

"Millennia passed, and the events of the war faded into the stuff of legend as Unova built itself up as a modern land. But Ghetsis never forgot. He was a descendant of the royal line, resentful at the actions of his forebears that had led to the collapse of their kingdom. So he set out to find the dragons and reunify Kyurem, so that he could take over Unova and rule like his ancestors before him."

He continued, "I never knew my parents. They were killed in a building collapse when I was an infant. In my first few years, I lived out in the wild and was raised by Pokémon. I came to see Pokémon as my friends, and bonded with them as such. Ghetsis took advantage of this when he found me and took me in. You see, he wanted someone who he could control to be the head of his scheme until he felt it was time to come out with his plan more openly. So he created Team Plasma. He found six other royal descendants to form the Seven Sages, and cast me as the 'king' of Team Plasma. I told him I wanted it to be an organization which encouraged friendship between humans and Pokémon. He didn't exactly agree with this at first, but soon twisted it to mean that humans and Pokémon should be separated so that Pokémon could be free from the tyranny of human control and being made to fight. In reality, he wanted to control all the Pokémon in Unova so that he would have no serious challenge once he reunited Kyurem. I was resentful of what he was doing, but had no choice but to go along with it.

"In came a strong trainer. Like you, he was starting his Pokémon journey. I decided to battle him on a whim, and was amazed by the amount of passion and drive he had for battles, and the love and caring he expressed for his Pokémon. So I followed him through his journey and secretly helped him obtain the Black dragon, Zekrom, while I controlled Reshiram, the White dragon. We faced off in the Plasma Palace, and he won the fight both against me and against Ghetsis. After the battle, I decided to release Reshiram so it could be free, while entrusting Zekrom to the trainer's care. After that, he disappeared, and I ditched Ghetsis."

He continued, "but the story doesn't end there. A couple of years later, another trainer who was starting her journey dared to take on Team Plasma, who by now was more openly led by Ghetsis and plotted to take over and control Unova with an iron fist. I helped her along by jinxing many of their plans, which culminated in a battle at the bottom of the Giant Chasm, where Ghetsis had succeeded in fusing Reshiram and Kyurem. She defeated him, after which he was reduced to a broken, mad mess. Nobody knows what happened to him after that, but Team Plasma disbanded, and the girl was entrusted with both Reshiram and Kyurem."

He looked out towards the now-moonlit ocean. "I still look for the other strong trainer, and wonder where he may be now. I've always wanted to tell him something, but I could never find a trace of him anywhere. But I know he's out there, with Zekrom, traveling the Earth and challenging trainers."

They took in his story, before Lillie asked him, "do you think we are strong trainers?"

He looked back at them and said "I came to this island a few months ago and have watched other new trainers struggle with their first trial. I like to observe the fights from there," he pointed at an outcropping just above the cavern. I think you three all have the potential to be excellent trainers, especially you," he looked at Reimu. "What is your name?"

"Reimu," she told him.

"Reimu... what a lovely name. I saw how you fight, how the bond you have with your Pokémon allows your fights to not only be completely one-sided, but works of art. I think you have the potential to exceed everyone I have ever met."

Reimu smiled. "You know, I've faced off with all kinds of things in my life. But, I still feel like there is much for me to learn, like I haven't seen everything that life has to throw at me, even in a predicament like what I'm in. All the mysteries, the tricks, y'know?"

"Mysteries and tricks..." N murmered.

There was a voice just like his calling out from the distance. "Shadow, it's time we went home. Please come back to me so we can leave."

He looked at the three. "I think master N is calling me." He poofed into smoke before a black, fox-like creature with red hair emerged where he had been sitting and cried out before returning to his master.

The three just sat there wide-eyed wondering what had just happened.

"This place gets just a little weirder the longer I'm here," Reimu remarked.

* * *

The moon was at a waxing crescent as its light shimmered across the sea. The three were still huddled around their campfire, and Hau was teaching Reimu how to cook up s'mores. She thought the treats were kind of strange, but otherwise tasted good. It soon got to be late, and everyone around them was putting out their fires, so Lillie had Adele put out the fire with a squirt of water, while the other two jokingly braced for the fireplace to blow up, which of course didn't happen.

Just before going to bed, they spent some time looking up at the stars in the skies above. They could see the constellations formed by the various stars up above, all the sorts of shapes that the imaginary lines formed in between the small white lights that dotted the skies above. In the distance, the faint glow of Hau'oli city shined from behind the hillside.

Reimu bumped Lillie and asked her "where's the north star?"

Lillie pointed at a constellation. "You see that? That constellation where I'm pointing up at?"

Reimu looked for a bit before seeing it. "Yeah, I kind of see it."

"That is Ursaring Major. They call it that because it looks like an Ursaring. And the North Star is in the ring on its 'belly.' Why do you ask?"

Reimu replied "when I was a child, I was taught how to navigate using star charts, so I could easily find my way if I ever got lost or disoriented. I didn't want to get lost while I was here, so I just wanted to know which way was north and which way was south."

"They don't teach us star charts," Lillie told Reimu. "In fact, they don't really teach you how to navigate in school unless you go into something like boating. Everyone just relies on their phones to get them where they need to go, their GPS's. But I'm a licensed boater, so I was taught how to navigate using old-fashioned methods, maps and compasses. And even then, I never thought about navigating using just starts, like you. I think that's pretty impressive that you know how to do that."

Reimu smiled. "When it's all you have, it's what you get good at doing."

* * *

They decided to huddle inside the tent, where Hau was already sleeping. They got into sleeping bags next to each other, and buried themselves inside the bags.

"Good night," Lillie whispered. "You too," Reimu whispered back, as they each rolled over and went to sleep.


	10. Absorption

It had been an interesting past couple of days for Yuuka.

It started when she was tending to her flowers, in the massive field on the Nameless Hill that she maintained, when the hole in the sky appeared for a few minutes before disappearing. After that, she began hearing rumors that the shrine maiden had vanished, supposedly within that same hole in the sky. Following that, a crack coalition of Genoskyo's most powerful fighters began patrolling the land for any clues that might be used to bring her back, or stave off any threats brought upon by this incident.

She was not one of them. She was feared, all across Gensokyo, for her power, and most importantly, her notoriously volatile attitude, especially when it came to anyone who so much as laid a finger on her beloved flowers. She was so reviled, even other youkai avoided her, and it was told in the human village that seeing her meant certain death.

This was a reputation she could do without, however. The truth was, even though she was very powerful, the only reason she ever attacked anyone was because they threatened her flowers. After all, she WAS a flower youkai; to her, her flowers were her children. And you don't threaten a parent's child, no matter your species. She was actually fairly personable and affable, provided you didn't threaten her flowers. It was an odd twist of logic, but then, youkai do tend to operate on logic which differs from that of humans, part of the reason the feud between them was so long and rocky. In this case, this twist of logic meant a general lack of friends, and she spent most of her time alone, which only fed into her reputation.

She had been taking some personal enjoyment out of the ruckus caused by the shrine maiden; it's not every day you see Yukari absolutely freaking out, that's for sure. And it isn't every day that you see Mokou and Kaguya on the same side, if grudgingly. This whole incident was very amusing to her, and it would be a shame if it ended quickly, so generally she didn't act on it and just went about her life, taking care of her flowers and guarding them from intruders.

This morning, she had gone out early, the result of the summer sun rising so early in the day, dressed in her gardener getup and armed with tools, seed, plant food, fertilizer and a little bit of magic. Today, like most days, she went out to her vegetable garden, where she got most of her food from, and started picking out roots and tubers, harvesting lettuce, picking berries in season and placing them in her basket, before feeding them and using some magic in order to make them grow faster to provide more food more quickly. She was a very meticulous artisan when it came to gardening, making sure plants were arranged very specifically in perfectly straight rows with enough space to walk between them without harming them; so much as a couple of centimeters off was enough to grate on her to no end. And she also tended to and cared for her plants such that they grew into big, strong specimens that she could be proud of when her few visitors saw them.

After tending to her vegetables, she brought them inside her small cottage. Most went to the cellar, where they were stored to help get through Gensokyo's icy winters. The rest were thrown into a pot above the fire and cooked – breakfast, which she enjoyed with tea that she grew herself in her garden, a rather pungent breed of green tea which was enough to awaken the senses of even the most sleep-deprived sloth, whose scent wafted through even the most stuffed up of noses. Everything a flower youkai needed to perk up and be ready for anything sent her way.

After breakfast, she washed up, cleaning off the dirt smudges that materialized all over her body while working the garden. After drying herself off and styling her hair – she was very conscious about her hair – she changed into her usual dress, grabbed her parasol and a pail, and walked out the front door and into the vast fields of flowers surrounding her establishment in all directions.

It was a beautiful day, with no clouds in sight and the hot sun bearing down on the flowery fields. The pail she carried contained a special water designed to give them the nutrients they needed and protect them from being dehydrated by the oppressive summer sun. It helped to maintain a vast field of yellow which stretched for countless acres all around. From her position, the flowers seemed to stretch out over the horizon, a veritable idyllic setting masking a deadly secret. And this was her life, walking through and tending to these fields and maintaining their vitality. For a flower youkai, it only came naturally.

Many insects visited the fields, most notably butterflies and bees who served to pollinate the flowers. In general, these were the only things she allowed to touch her flowers, and their presence was even welcomed. One such bee buzzed up and landed on her sunhat, apparently confused as to why it wasn't a flower. Yuuka was flattered, because she took it to mean that she was as beautiful as the flowers she so carefully maintained, that it was no wonder the bee had mistook her for one.

She reached a small roll overlooking the rest of the fields. Walking up to the top of it, she was greeted by a view across the valley, with the towering Youkai Mountain to the northeast and the various temples and shrines dotting the sides and tops of the mountainous fence, the rivers and creeks cascading down from their sources and flowing lazily into the Misty Lake, then somewhere beyond into the outside. It was a splendorous scene, one which made Yuuka proud of the place she called home, even if it was populated by people who didn't care too much for her flowers, and she looked on as the breeze picked up slightly and flowed through her hair and dress, gently rustling the flowers.

Moments later, however, she heard a noise. At first, she wasn't too sure what it was, so she just ignored it. Soon, however, it grew loud enough that she could recognize it as horrendously loud buzzing, which almost made her want to cover her ears. But what insect was loud enough to make buzzing that loud? This was easily much louder than the famously forceful buzz of the cicada, and she knew of no insect youkai capable of making the noise.

She got her answer when it swooped directly over her, creating a wake which made her flinch and which blew the flowers near her sideways. She looked over to the south, where the object had gone, and saw a massive red blur whose form she could not discern from where she stood.

She chased after the creature, wondering what it was and what it was doing in her fields. If it was another youkai who wanted to pick a fight, they chose the wrong woman to do so with. After a short while, the buzzing stopped, indicating that it had landed. However, this also made it more difficult for her to find it, since it had disappeared into the maw of the fields, forcing her to fly up a bit in order to try and find it.

She found it standing in the middle of a field of sunflowers, so she landed and began approaching it. As she did, she could make out a most bizarre creature: it seemed to have the head of a mosquito, with a very long proboscis, and what appeared to be massive, bulging pecs, abs, and highly muscular arms with tough fists at their ends, supported by four stands resembling insect legs. And it stood over two and a half meters tall. As she got closer, she saw it was holding one arm out with a finger outstretched and it seeming to look on as if there was something on it, which she soon determined to be a butterfly.

She accosted the figure, asking politely but with clear agitation "now, excuse me, who are you?"

The creature turned its head towards her in notice, causing the butterfly to flutter off. It then struck a pose with its arms above its head as it let out a screeching sound, presumably a warning sound of some sort. It then put its arms down and began facing Yuuka with seeming scrutiny.

Yuuka stood back a bit, her hand on a single spell card ready to be played any second, as she confronted the creature. "If you're a youkai looking for a fight here in my flower fields, intent on harming my flowers, then you should be ready for me to treat you to a very, very bad time indeed." She then paused. "But, I shall be merciful first. Who or what are you, and what is your purpose?"

The creature seemed to stare at her for a few seconds, although she couldn't tell if it was staring at her or not since it lacked recognizable eyes. After a few seconds, it struck another pose, this time with its left arm held straight in the air with its palm flat and its right arm bend beside it in a similar fashion while it looked on in the sky. Then it struck another, this time a lumbering strongman look with it bent down and its arms flexed down below it in a circular shape.

This is a very odd creature, she thought, communicating by striking bodybuilding poses. She asked it another question. "Can you understand me?" she asked. It responded by first pointing at her, then pointing at its antenna or whatever it used to hear, then gave a thumbs-up. "Interesting," she remarked. "Please tell me: I have not seen you before. Are you new to Gensokyo? Where did you come from?"

It took a moment to process these words, before it pointed up at the sky, in the general direction where the hole was a few days ago. It then made a circle shape with its hands and fingers, then pointed at the sky again.

"Hmm, I don't get it. The sky, then you make a circle with your hands..." she thought about it, then responded "you mean to say you came out of that hole?" It responded with another thumbs-up.

She then asked it another question, this one in a slightly more accusatory tone. "Why did you come to Gensokyo? What is your reason for being here?"

It started by pointing at itself, then holding at its palm whilst doing a gesture with its other hand to represent a walking figure, then pointed at itself again then back at the walking hand.

"Is that supposed to be you?" Yuuka asked, and the creature nodded. It then held out its hands as if to suggest "suddenly," before lurching forward and letting out another shrill call with its arms stretched out in front of it and its hands open like it was trying to lift something, before reeling back with an even louder shrill and its arms stretched out to its sides, its hands still open. It then made the walking gesture with its hand again, and pretended to "punch" it to the side and made it go through a loop it made with its other hand.

Yuuka wasn't sure what to make of what it was trying to communicate here. "So you were forced through the hole somehow... are you trying to say that some big, scary monster kicked you through?" It gave another thumbs-up. Yuuka was smarter than she was scary, so she could figure these things out very quickly.

She then asked it yet another question: "why did it throw you through the hole?" The creature shrugged; it wasn't sure why it was thrown through, but it did manage to communicate that other figures had been forced out the hole the same way.

"Are you trying to find a way back home?" she asked it. It nodded. She then asked "would you simply fly through another hole if one were to appear." It shook its head. "Why not?" It then made the same pose representing the big, scary monster. "The big, scary monster would throw you back out, and you can't beat it in a fight?" It lowered its head in sorrow and nodded.

"I see," she responded. "Now, why are you here of all places in Gensokyo? This is a dangerous place, and many feared youkai live out in these fields." It swept one swole arm over the fields, pointed back at the sky, then swept over the field again with its other arm.

"I'm not sure I understand," Yuuka replied. "Are you trying to say there's a flower field on the other side of the hole?" She asked. It gestured in a way as if to say "eh, kind of."

She then made the next logical bridge: "do my fields remind you of home?" It looked off to the side, then struck a more vigorous thumbs-up.

She was amused by this strange encounter with something related to the incident. And interestingly, it appeared as if it had the opposite problem Reimu did: she was flung through the hole and was trying to get back to Gensokyo; this creature was stuck in Gensokyo and was trying to get back to the land beyond the hole.

She then decided to see what this thing was capable of. "What sorts of things can you do, with those big, bulging muscles of yours?" she asked.

It held out on finger in front of her, as if getting ready to demonstrate a trick. It then jumped into the air, then slammed down to the ground, its arm piercing the soil beneath it. She was wondering at this moment what it was doing, hopefully not ruining her flowers.

It moved its hand around, clearly feeling around for something, before stopping as if it had found whatever it was looking for, deep down inside of the ground. Using its free arm, it pushed up and began slowly pulling its arm out of the ground before quickly uprooting a screaming, yelling black-haired girl in a white dress with red and blue arrow accents.

Yuuka instantly knew who it was. It was Seija, the runaway amanojaku that was wanted all across Gensokyo after her failed rebellion. The girl flailed around in the air, cursing the ears off the creature. "Unhand me, you evil, grotesque monster!" she yelled, her arms and legs flapping about as it grabbed her by the collar.

"Well, well, well," Yuuka sneered as she looked on. "If it isn't the amanojaku who tried to invert the barrier. I've been looking all over for you, hoping to claim the handsome reward for myself, but it seems my friend here has accomplished that for me." She walked closer to her, and was amused. All the most powerful characters in Gensokyo had been after her for many months, whipping out their most dangerous and lethal spell cards to try and stop her, and only now was she captured by a big, red musclebound mosquito thing that didn't even know how to use magic.

"I think I'll hold onto you for the night and then turn you over to the border youkai when I'm done playing with you," she said slyly. She then turned back towards the creature holding on to Seija. "I think I'll reward you by showing you back to my house. I could always use more company." So she started walking back, only to be suddenly grabbed under the creature's other arm as it flew the both of them back to Yuuka's house.


	11. Adhesive

Meanwhile, in Alola, it had been a busy morning for Reimu, Lillie and Hau, who got up early and left their campsite in order to circle back to Iki Town before day's end, so they could challenge the Grand Trial and move on to the next island. The shortest route back to Iki was along the northeast shore of the island, along Route 3, a scenic but notoriously rough and craggy area infested with Fearow and Mandibuzz hoping to pick up a quick snack in the form of the critters which inhabited the jagged rock outcroppings and canyons below, but which were also counter-hunted by the Electrike and Manetric prowling the grass and bushes that lined the sea cliffs. None of these were any match for Reimu's posse, though, and such was their reputation already that even Ace Trainers gave pause before deciding to challenge them. This actually proved to be somewhat of a problem, since battle winnings had become their primary source of income, and having to literally beg for fights was inconvenient and tiresome, never mind not supposed to be necessary since the rules stated if two trainer's eyes met and they had healthy Pokémon, they had to fight.

All morning, they blazed a veritable trail of destruction along the path, and their Pokémon were barely breaking a sweat, let alone getting injured enough to warrant using a bunch of healing items on them just to get them back into fighting shape. Of course, after the trial, Lillie decided to keep a bit of a tighter leash on Adele, lest she accidentally do something which caused the entire island to blow up and sink into the sea. So she let her Gastly do most of the work, which was a little problematic since Gastly can't exactly take hits.

After a while of hiking, it was close to lunchtime, and they were getting close to Iki town; Reimu estimated it would only be about another hour or two from where they were before they got there.

"Yo, guys," Hau said, "where do you think we should have lunch at?"

"To be honest," Reimu told him, "I'm not that hungry yet." She took another swig of water out of her canteen.

"What do you mean you're not hungry?" Hau exclaimed. "We've been walking and battling Pokémon and trainers for hours! I'm starving after all that!"

"We don't exactly have a little boy's metabolism," Lillie said with a soft grin.

"I AM NOT A LITTLE BOY!" Hau yelled out as he stamped the ground. Reimu and Lillie couldn't help but laugh as they watched his frustration.

As they stifled their laughs, Reimu noticed Nebby out of the corner of her eye, and asked Lillie "hey Lillie, did you mean to let Nebby out of the bag? Because its going into that small cave over there."

Lillie's smile quickly morphed into an expression of pure terror as she processed what had just come out of Reimu's mouth, and looked over at the cave, but Nebby wasn't there. She dashed into the cave, calling out "Nebby, get back here! You're not supposed to wander off like that!"

Reimu and Hau couldn't think of anything else to do but run in behind her and try and recapture the wayward puffball. As they did, Reimu wondered what kind of Pokémon it was to just seemingly be able to let itself out of its Pokéball whenever it wanted, no matter how close an eye Lillie kept on it.

They went through the cavern, which quickly opened up into an open-air flower field, with light shimmering down from the sky above onto the carpet of yellow flowers, in which Oricorio played and Cutiefly danced between the petals and buds. None of this really impressed upon their minds at the moment, however; their main objective was to get Nebby back in the back.

"Looks like Yuuka's flower fields," Reimu remarked. "We'd best be careful, or else she might pop out and rip us all in half!" she joked. But of course, no one was laughing, although she wasn't sure if it was because they were focused on finding Nebby, the sheer morbidness of her remark, or both.

They all knew finding Nebby in these thick flowers was going to be a challenge, made all the more pressing due to the fact that it couldn't defend itself from anything that decided it would make a good snack. So Reimu, Hau and Lillie all went off in separate directions, whacking and hacking through the flowers, quickly dispatching or scaring away anything standing in their way.

"Geez," Reimu said. "You'd think finding a blue-and-purple puffball in this field of yellow flowers would be easy because it would stick out like a sore thumb. But the thing is so danged small that you might not see it until you step on it and it starts crying and stuff." She called out to the others "you finding anything?"

"Not yet," Hau shouted back.

"Me neither," Lillie shouted as well. For her, this was a challenge due to her general aversion to charging straight into tall grass and flowers and Pokémon jumping out at her, but she had developed a maternal instinct with Nebby, and things like it running off made her do things going against her nature in order to make sure it was safe. At least the weaker Pokémon seemed to run in terror at the sight of her Gastly, so she kept it floating behind her for exactly that reason.

It had only been a few minutes since they started looking, but it already felt like hours. For Reimu, her primary concern with finding Nebby was because she had begun to develop a sense that it might hold the key to her finding a way back to Gensokyo, based on the sorts of experiments that Lillie was talking about before she escaped with it. However, she also found herself legitimately concerned about its well-being as a living creature, as well as concerned for Lillie's well-being in turn. She always did treat people in the same way, open but also a little wary until good intentions were confirmed. This was why she made friends so quickly, even with foes.

Then, a terrible shriek sounded out and instantly got their collective attention, especially Lillie's. "NEBBY!" she screamed as she rushed toward where the sound came from. Reimu and Hau each broke off their respective searches and ran beside Lillie.

They emerged from the flowers onto a rock clearing rising above the fields. There they saw Nebby, who was crying out and flailing in the arms of a mysterious female figure.

Lillie rushed up with determination in her eyes and confronted the figure, ready to fight if necessary to save Lillie. She had only been a trainer for a few days, but that combined with having Reimu at her side was enough to give her the confidence she needed to do something like this.

She stood and accosted the figure. "Unhand Nebby, you bitch!"

The figure looked up at her in response, and her appearance gave Lillie some pause. Her eyes appeared shadowed out beneath her pale-blonde hair, and her dress was also washed-out shades of black, gray and burgundy. She also had a washed-out bow, and floating behind her was a small, purple creature with blue eyes, a bulbous head and a long tail.

Reimu studied the figure as well, and it took a moment to process what she was seeing.

"Hold on... is that – is that Medicine Melancholy?" she said.

Lillie looked behind her. "Medicine what now?"

Reimu walked up and gently armed Lillie aside. "I think you'd better let me handle this one, Lillie." Lillie really wanted to save Nebby herself and prove she was capable to Reimu, but she realized that Reimu knew what she was doing, and deferred to her judgment.

Reimu approached the figure herself and sent out Sasha, who was itching for a brawl. "Unless that thing behind you is a Pokémon, I'd suggest you hand over the puffball now and you won't get hurt."

The figure looked up at her and revealed her eyes. One was normal-looking, if a bit doll-like, but the other was truly bizarre: it appeared to be a conglomeration of crystals which lit up and dimmed to show different facial expressions, with a yellow circular crystal face in the middle standing in for an iris, and black, obsidian-like crystalline material on either side of it. Examining it further, Reimu also realized the figure had some other unusual features – in addition to the washed-out colors, she had more stark black, diamond-like features across her person, including sharp crystalline joints where her doll joints would be, and although one hand had normal-looking doll fingers, the other hand had sharp, black, claws holding Nebby in place.

She set Nebby aside but closely guarded it. She then directed the creature behind her forward to face Sasha.

Reimu was curious, so she sent out the Rotom-Dex to examine it. However:

"Unknown Pokémon identified, bzzrt," it told her. "I'll try to give you some info, but it might take time."

Unknown Pokémon? Is it a new species? She wasn't sure – the only thing she knew was that it resembled a character from one of those Dragon Ball mangas Yukari brought her sometimes for show-and-tell. But, a promise to fight was a promise, so she ordered Sasha to assault it with Fire Fang at once, which he did, pouncing up into the air for the kill; however, it managed to dodge the attack, moving swiftly to the side.

"Hmm," she wondered. Maybe direct attacks won't work against it with agility like that, she thought. She decided that just using Ember for now would be best until it was too weak to dodge Sasha's contact attacks.

It was then that the creature began attacking by spewing a stream of poison from its hands, which Sahsa evaded, but barely. He reeled from the foul stench of the poison stream, which soon dissipated.

"Sasha, focus," Reimu told it. "Use Ember!" Sasha obeyed his order's master without so much as a second thought – after all, he didn't want to disappoint a strong trainer such as her, and it wanted her affection more than anything else. So he shot the fiery bolt at the creature, leading the target just like Reimu instructed him to. Boom, direct hit, as the creature flinched and tried to put itself out.

At that moment, Rotom called out "got it! Here's some info for you! Sorry, best I could do on short notice." Reimu had Lillie read it off to her. Pure Poison was the creature's type. Reimu decided a tactical switch was needed at this point, so she recalled Sasha and sent out Magnemite to handle the threat, confident that it was immune to Poison.

But the mysterious visitor had an ace up her sleeve. She pointed one clawed finger forward and spoke, but what came out of her mouth was an indecipherable language that sounded like the clanking and shattering of ice and glass. The creature then bowed forward, with the stinger on the top of its head pointing right towards Magnemite, before shooting a stream of violet liquid right at it, covering Magnemite and sticking to it like an adhesive.

It didn't hurt Magnemite by any means – it was immune to the attack, after all, due to being Steel-type – but it was now completely blinded and couldn't tell its left from its right. It sent electric sparks in random directions trying to hit its opponent, forcing Reimu to command it to stop. The figure and its servant couldn't help but laugh at Magnemite's predicament.

Of course, Reimu wasn't one to lose easily, so she grabbed Magnemite and bent its magnets forward toward the purple creature. She then ordered "okay Magnemite, shoot Thunderbolt straight in front of you!" It did as it was told, shooting a blast of electricity so intense it knocked Reimu backwards and struck the purple creature with tremendous force.

In the aftermath, the creature lie on the ground, paralyzed and unable to battle. The mysterious figure saw this and recalled it back into its ball, a strange blue ball with gold ridges which neither of them had ever seen. It then silently cursed at them – or, at least, they assumed it was cursing, given the figure's angry expression and tone – before being enveloped in energy and disappearing into nothing.

* * *

Lille rushed over to Reimu. "Are you all right?" she asked in a worried tone.

Reimu managed to get herself off the ground and dust herself off. "Yeah, I'm okay. Been through worse." She still had Magnemite in her hands, and it was still covered in sticky poison. Worse still, so were her hands. She didn't know how potent the creature's toxins were, but she was well aware of what Medicine's could do, even if it was an imposter.

"What am I going to do about this poison?" Reimu asked. She couldn't just sit there with poison all over her hands and her struggling Magnemite blinded. It seemed a problematic predicament.

Then, Hau got a brainwave. "Hey Lillie," he asked, "maybe your Gastly could help us out here!"

Lillie wasn't sure how the gas cloud ghost could help, but she decided to let it out anyway to see if it could help Reimu. With the same scary smiling expression on its face, it drifted over towards her and Magnemite, let out a short cry as it hovered over them, then began absorbing all the toxin into its body.

"Of course!" Lillie said. "Poison-type Pokémon have the ability to absorb poison from their surroundings to power themselves up!" And that was exactly what Gastly was doing, and Reimu was amazed that it could remove the adhesive toxin so easily.

In just a few seconds, it was all gone, off of Reimu's hands and off of Magnemite. She let go of Magnemite and had it face her. "You okay?" she asked it. It turned around and made a happy expression in response. Seems as it getting covered in poison doesn't stop it or get it down, she guessed.

Lillie went and got Nebby, still scared and cowering from what had just happened. She looked at it and lightly scolded it, "please don't do something like that again! You could've gotten hurt, or worse, and you got us into serious danger in order to save you!" It looked down, sad that it made its adoptive mother upset, before looking back up with a "pew!" and getting back in the ball and the bag with it.

"Well," Reimu said standing straight up, "that was hairy."

"Yeah," Hau responded, "but, what was that strange figure? It seemed like you knew her?"

Reimu looked at him, looking down and thinking about the whole encounter. "Well, the figure at least resembled Medicine Melancholy, one of the youkai that live in Gensokyo. She's a doll youkai with the ability to manipulate toxins, and hates humans. But, that wasn't the real one – or at least I'm assuming it's not her. And the way she teleported away, it seemed she was escaping into one of those 'Ultra Wormholes.'"

Lillie was confused. "What does that mean?"

"I'm not sure," Reimu replied. "What I do know now is that this incident could be far larger than I imagined. Maybe what's causing this is endangering not only Gensokyo, but this place as well. What it wants from both, I don't know."

She turned around and faced them both. "Of course, I would like to get home, but I feel that if I do that without getting to the source of the incident, the problem will come back worse than before. And this affects not just me, but both of you, and everyone in this island chain as well."

Lillie looked up at Reimu. "Well," she said in an unsure way, "to be truthful, I'm trying to get Nebby home as well. It's not from this world. I've been wanting to travel the islands, because it seems interested in the Tapu, as if they know a way for it to return home. It seems... connected to them, somehow."

Reimu thought about the Tapu for a second, and how the bridge to the Ruins of Conflict was blown out. "Are there any alternatives to Tapu Koko?"

"We could try the guardian of the next island, Tapu Lele," Lillie responded. "Although I've heard Tapu Lele is very timid and finicky, so it might be even harder to track down than Tapu Koko."

"Better than nothing," Reimu replied. "C'mon, we got business to take care of. To be honest, this whole Island Challenge is invigorating, because of how much we get to see and experience. And it might be easier to secure a ride to the next island if we tell people we've punked Hala – "

Hau pouted. "Gramps is a strong trainer! He won't just get 'punked' easily!"

"With Adele around," Reimu said looking at Lillie, "I'm not sure how true that's going to be with us."

They made their way out of the meadow and continued down back towards Iki Town.

* * *

They continued down Route 3 as it looped back down south toward Iki Town. The route was located along sea cliffs rising above the sparkling blue waters of Kala'e Bay down below. As they traveled over bridge above the gorge of the stream roughly cutting the island in half, Reimu looked down and happened to notice a very large number of moving objects on the beach down below.

"Excuse me, but what are those?" she asked.

Hau looked down. "Oh, it must be breeding season for the Samurotts and Primarinas! Wanna go down and see?" He pointed toward the staircase chiseled into the cliffside which went down to the beach below.

"I dunno," Lillie said. "Do we really want to mess around with animals during the breeding season?"

"Oh, come on, Lillie! I go down to see them every year! They're super friendly as long as you don't try to hit their kids," he said. Reimu had never really seen sea lions up close, so she decided it might be a fun detour on their adventure, and they could eat lunch down there as well.

Down on the beach, it was incredibly noisy, as the various Primarina attempted a choir concert, but only managed a mangled and disjointed concerto of high notes and shrieks. Of course, given what was on their minds at the moment, it was small wonder they had a hard time coordinating. This combined with the orks and grunts of their male counterparts made it almost impossible to communicate without shouting.

As the trio came down the stairs covering their ears, the singing slowly died down as the Primarina briefly observed their visitors, before returning to their haphazard choir practice.

"Do they always do this?" Reimu asked Hau slightly shouting.

"I think its their mating call," he responded. He looked around to see if he could find the male of the harem. Samurott keep harems of Primarina, and will fight each other over groups of mates. Off to one side, one such battle was unfolding as two Samurotts were sword fighting using the horns on top of their shells, and one was visibly bleeding. Off to another was a lone Samurott watching over his harem, and interestingly, this one had sunglasses.

"Hey girls," Hau said, pointing towards him. Reimu looked, and saw the Samurott commanding his area, stoicly looking over it and instilling a strong sense of dread to anyone that dare challenge him.

"What's with the sunglasses?" she asked.

Hau replied, "well, that Samurott is something of a living legend on this beach. They say he's far more powerful than any other Samurott, and once towed a sinking cruise ship back into port all by himself. And basically no other Samurott questions his authority, and the ones that do, well, they learn a painful lesson quickly."

"Seems like he would be one heck of a teammate," Reimu remarked.

"Yeah, well, you're not the first one to think that. Gramps told me stories about people who try to catch him, but he decimates all their Pokémon like that," Hau said snapping his fingers. "You just can't go near him. I even heard some poachers were trying to get him one time, but he just sliced through their ropes and swatted their darts out of the air before blasting them away with a really strong Hydro Pump."

As Lillie was listening to this conversation and observing the Pokémon on the beach, she thought she felt something in her bag, like a Pokémon was letting itself out. Oh no, she thought, Nebby got out of the bag again. She looked in her bag, but confusingly, it wasn't Nebby's ball that was open, but Adele's. She then looked up and saw the errant pinniped bounding her way over to the sunglasses Samurott.

"Ah, Adele!" she cried out, trying to chase after her, but once she got too close to the Samurott, it was too late, since Lillie knew it would be unwise to approach him. Instead, she hung back, hoping Adele would come back unharmed.

Both Hau and Reimu looked up. "What's she doing?" Reimu asked Hau. "I don't know," he responded.

Adele seemed to bound up enthusiastically to the Samurott, and once in front of him presented herself with a cheerful smile and a high squeal.

It took the Samurott a while to notice her, but when he did, he slowly looked down in her direction, and the two eyed each other for a few seconds before the Samurott uttered something that broke the thick silence.

"...Git Gud."

And then Adele seemed to nod with a determined look on her face, before returning to Lillie.

The three humans were stunned. Did the Samurott just speak? That was almost unheard of outside of Psychic and Ghost-types, and even then it was exceedingly rare and mostly limited to telepathy, not vocal speaking. And what did he mean by "gid gud?" Did he think that Adele was weak? And why did she respond with such a determined expression, as if to say "I won't let you down?"

The three decided not to try and strain their brains trying to answer these questions, instead just finishing their lunches and then heading back up the stone stairs to the cliff side above.

* * *

"What was THAT all about?" Reimu asked the other two.

Hau shrugged. "I don't know. That was so weird. It just looked at Adele with that glare and, well, I don't know."

"That was very strange," Lillie said. "I wonder how the professor would react if we just told him we literally saw a talking Samurott, and it was the Sunglasses Samurott of Kala'e Bay to boot."

"I bet he would think it was the coolest thing ever," Hau chuckled. "Imagine, all he needed was one of those chip bags and a joint, and he could have been one of those MLG types!"

Lillie glanced at Hau. "I think you need to get off the internet."

"Oh, alright, _mom_," Hau said said sarcastically as he put his hand behind his head. Lillie pouted as Reimu chucked while they continued down the path.

As they made their way down the hill back towards Iki town, Reimu caught sight of what looked like a baby dragon standing near the edge of the cliff, looking down.

"What's that thing, Rotom? Is it a Pokémon?" She pulled out the Rotom-Dex. It scanned the little dragon and came back with a reply.

"Oooohh, you're lucky," it told her. "That's a rare Bagon! It's a Dragon-type Pokémon known for jumping off cliffs while trying to practice flying!"

Reimu just took this in for a moment, then looked up wide-eyed and turned over to the Bagon, who conspicuously lacked visible wings, and yet it was trying to practice flying.

Maybe it was her miko instincts acting up, but given how exalted dragons were in Gensokyo, she couldn't help but rush over to the errant baby dragon as it was rushing towards the cliff edge, jumping and sliding across the ground on her belly while her hands stretched out to catch the little dragon in midair just as it jumped off flapping its arms.

Needless to say, the baby dragon did not take kindly to being manhandled by a human just as it was attempting to realize its dream of flying, so it flailed about trying to free itself from her grasp. Unfortunately for it, Reimu's grip was hardened by years of beating up youkai with her bare fists, so about all it could manage was bonking its steel-hard head against her chest and kicking her with its legs while she held it tightly to keep it from running off again.

"Oof! Ow! Stop it!" Reimu grunted as it struggled. "I'm just trying to keep you safe, little guy! I don't want you to hurt – OW! Lillie, Hau, can one of you give me a hand here?!"

Lillie looked on for a second, before she got an idea. She reached into her bag and pulled out a Poké Bean, then held it out in front of her where the Bagon could see it.

"Over here," she called out. "Do you want some food? Are you hungry?"

After a few moments, the Bagon stopped struggling so much as it sniffed the air, then caught sight of Lillie's offering. It looked at it for a few seconds, then tugged at Reimu to try and get her to put it down. Carefully, she did, blocking the way back to the cliff as she did so.

Lillie knelt down to its level, holding the bean out in her hand, while it waddled over to her. It stopped just in front of the bean, which it sniffed for a bit, making sure to do so from all angles. It slowly put its mouth near the bean, then licked it a bit before gently mouthing it out of Lillie's hand and began chewing on it.

"Well," Lillie said to it, "do you like it?"

It swallowed the bean, then looked up at her for a couple seconds before giving an approving grunt.

"That's the way!" she said smiling. Then, at that moment, she could feel something letting itself out of its Pokéball. She looked at her bag for a second to see who it was, before looking back and seeing Nebby in front of the Bagon.

"Nebby!" Lillie said, a little startled. She wasn't sure whether it was safe for Nebby to interact with other Pokémon, even the weak ones like this Bagon. She looked on, ready to recall Nebby if need be.

The little dragon was curious of the puffball, who circled around it checking it out. It tried to reach out to Nebby, but Nebby backed off a bit to keep it from doing so. Then, Nebby faced it, and covered its face with its pom-poms. The Bagon looked at it confused, and tilted its head trying to figure out what it was doing.

Then, Nebby let out a "Pew!" as it suddenly raised its pom-poms and gave a forceful smile. This caused the Bagon to do an adorably dumb happy dance as it spun around and smiled while letting out a happy growl.

"I think they like each other," Reimu smiled. "And I think it likes you too, Lillie."

Lillie blushed. "Oh, uh, thanks!"

"So why don't you take it in? Make it strong?" Reimu asked casually. Lillie paused. Dragon-type Pokémon always seemed daunting to her, their fierce personalities making them difficult to control at times. She wasn't sure if she could do it, but the little guy seemed awfully attached to her, the way it played with Nebby and gnawed on her leg lovingly. Maybe when it grew into a powerful Salamence, it could be a protector for Nebby, keep it away from bad guys and other Pokémon until she could get Nebby home.

So she took out a Pokéball and showed it to Bagon. "How would you like to come along with me?" she asked, kneeling down to Bagon's level. It stared at the Pokéball, and then gave it a butt with its rock-hard head. This caused the ball to pop open and suck it in, close up, and shake a few times before clicking, signifying a capture.

Lillie wasn't sure what to think. Did it just catch itself? She was slightly embarrassed, and just to make sure, she sent it out, and when it materialized on the ground, it turned its head around and grunted at Lillie.

"Uh... use Headbutt! On that tree!" she commanded. It looked at the tree that Lillie pointed at, processed the order for a couple of seconds, then charged at the tree and butted it with full force, causing it to shake and drop a pile of berries on top of it.

"Bagon?" Lillie said concerned. The three of them walked over to the berry pile that formed under the tree, and Lillie began to sift through it, before it rustled, causing her to jump back.

A second later, Bagon popped out, chewing on some berries that had fallen out of the tree. Relieved, Lillie patted Bagon on the head.

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright," she said. "Please be more careful next time!"

"Hey, you ordered it to headbutt the tree," Hau said, "and now it's got a bunch of berries all over it." He took a berry out of the pile and began chewing on it before spitting it out. "Ech, bitter. I don't like the bitter ones." He took a pink one out of the pile, and popped it in his mouth. He then smiled in approval. "I've always liked sweet ones, like a berry should be!"

"Oh, so that's why you're naive," Lillie commented. Hau wondered what that meant before thinking about it for a second, and then scowled at her while she was laughing. "Oh, har har, very funny. Well, I hope dry is your least favorite flavor." Upon hearing that, Lillie immediately stopped laughing and started scowling right back at him. "You take that back!"

Reimu didn't quite get what was going on here. "What do these berries have to do with your personality?" she asked.

Hau looked over at her. "Oh, well, they say you can determine someone's personality based on their favorite berry flavor. Here, try this yellow one," he said, handing her a Sitrus berry. She tried it, and absolutely loved the tart, sour flavor.

"Wow, that's some of the best fruit I've ever had!" she commented. Hau smiled. He then handed her a green one like what he had spit out. She tried it... and also spat it out. Too bitter for her, it seemed.

"Oh, so it seems you're Lax," Lillie said.

...yeah, that was an accurate descriptor, Reimu thought.

They decided to gather some more berries from the pile before heading back down the hill towards Iki Town, eager to knock their Grand Trial out of the way and head to the next island.

Peering out of the bushes observing them was a sphere-like energy creature, who let out a quick cackle before flying off into the distance.


	12. Hala's Grand Trial

The three made haste to Iki Town, where Hala was at home meditating between commercial breaks, before going back to watch his classic movies. All of a sudden, there was a banging on the front door, prompting him to get up from his chair and go check and see who it was.

He opened the door, and was greeted with his enthusiastic grandson jumping up and down. "We did it, we did it!" he exclaimed. "We cleared the trial!" All three of them showed off their Z-Rings, each with a shiny Normalium-Z occupying it.

Hala slapped his hands together. "Well, I knew you all could do it!" he said smiling. "I don't suppose you want to challenge me to my Grand Trial and get on with your challenges?"

"You bet!" Hau said, jumping up and down with excitement. Reimu steadied him before proclaiming "we've had quite an adventure going around this island."

"Oh I'm sure you have!" Hala said. "There's plenty to see and do on Melemele Island, though of course not as much as all the islands put together!"

* * *

A little while later, the crowds had gathered. When ol' Hala sounded the horn of a Grand Trial or two getting underway, that was always enough to make the people of Iki Town change whatever plans they had and gather around the center stage to watch the furious brawls that he and all the different trial-goers brought.

"So," the big man asked, "who's first?"

Reimu stepped up. "Me."

"Oh ho ho, I see," he chortled. "Fiery fightin' spirit like you, I knew you'd want to step right up and challenge ol' Hala the first chance you got!"

"Well," she remarked, "it comes with the territory." She was right, of course: having to be ready for an incident at a moment's notice typically meant she was ready to fight, whenever, wherever.

Both of them stepped up their respective sides of the stage and bowed politely. Then, Hala announced:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm glad you could all come here today to witness these battles. These three trial-goers," he swept his arms out at the two on the sidelines, then to Reimu herself, "have toured the island to prepare themselves for this very moment, a series of ferocious battles sure to please our island's guardian – "

"Kokokokokokokoko!" A call was heard off in the distance.

"Ah," Hala said, "it seems Tapu Koko is already happy and we haven't even started yet!"

"So," Reimu asked clutching her Pokéball, "shall we begin?"

"Let's do it!" Hala said throwing his first Pokéball, out of which popped a Makuhita.

Reimu started out with Magnemite. "Hmm," she thought, "Fighting-type. This might be a little dicey." But then she had an idea. She thought, I'll just have Magnemite float out of range and hit them with Thunderbolts.

So that's what she did. She commanded Magnemite float above the arena and rain down lighting from above onto Makuhita, who couldn't do anything because all its attacks were melee attacks, and it soon went down. Hala sent out his Machop, but it suffered the same problem: melee-only, target out of range, Thunderbolts take it down quickly.

But Hala was an old battler, and hadn't yet revealed his trump card. He sent out his ace, Crabrawler, and immediately resorted to doing the Fighting Z-Move dance, which involved punching the air several times. Power immediately surrounded Crabrawler, while Magnemite continued to pelt it with lighting.

As Magnemite was readying another charge, Crabrawler started punching the air above it. This time, however, fists made of pure energy flew out of them, homing in on Magnemite and hitting it several times before a much larger energy burst was fired, hitting it square in the eye and causing it to fall out of the air.

"What the –!" Reimu exclaimed as Magnemite hit the ground and she recalled it.

"Ohoho!" Hala chortled, "that's Z-power at work right there!"

Z-Power could do that, huh? Reimu was certainly surprised. Still, she could still see a way to victory. She had one Pokémon left, and his was injured, plus that Z-move was one he could do just once.

She sent out Sasha, and had a plan. "Sasha," she commanded, "I want you to circle that Crabrawler and pelt it with Embers while staying out of range of its punches."

That was a lot of words in Sasha's pea-brain, but his master's will was one he would not fail to serve. He rushed towards Crabrawler, but instead of a direct engagement, he circled around the slow crab, dodging its attempts at attacking it while turning its head occasionally to hit it with flames from his bell sac. The Crabrawler tried to turn around and hit it, but strategic thinking wasn't its strong suit. There wasn't much old Hala could do as he watched it be whittled down until eventually he had to recall it.

He stood back, staring at her, while the crowd was stunned. Then, he broke the silence, "well now. I can tell your reputation as a tough battler is well-deserved! I've never had such a loss like that in a Grand Trial in years! I had to use Z-power and even then that wasn't enough!"

"I know," Reimu said slyly. "I could tell you were holding back. Which is fine, against new battlers. But even if I'm new at training Pokémon, heated battles are no strange territory to me, and you gravely underestimated that."

"I may have, I may have," Hala replied. After healing up his Pokémon, he asked who the next one up was.

"How about you, Lillie?" he said pointing at her.

Lillie was surprised. "Me? Well, I, uh... don't know if I should go next!"

"Oh come on," Hala laughed. "You're not too scared to challenge ol' Hala, are ya?"

Reimu butted in, "I think what she's trying to say is that she shouldn't go before Hau unless you're interested in this place being turned into a disaster area before he gets to go."

"Disaster area?" Hala asked. "Does that mean there's a massive amount of steel underneath all that silk?"

"No," Reimu responded, "it means her Brionne – "

"C'mon up here an show the crowd what you've got!" Hala told Lillie as he motioned her up. Still nervous, she stepped onto the stage, bowed with him, then sent out Adele.

"Alright Adele," she said smiling. "Do your best!" Adele smiled back at her, then looked forward in anticipation.

Reimu whispered to Hau, "I think we'd better duck and cover."

"Good idea," Hau said as they hid in the bushes.

* * *

It was over in seconds.

The center stage was in splinters as a water-filled crater occupied the ground where it had been before. Ash was rising up in the air and soaking wet and dust-covered spectators were busy drying themselves off and cleaning up. Somehow, Lillie and Hala were just fine, and so was Adele. The same could not be said for Crabrawler, who was now lodged in the roof of an office building in Hau'oli City, and Hala didn't even bother sending out any of his others. Even Nebby and Gastly were shocked.

Hala stood there, in shock, looking at the beast that Lillie had used against his now errant Crabrawler.

"What." That was all he could muster.

Lille was panicking slightly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hala! I, er, Adele didn't – "

Professor Kukui cut her off, "that's the most vigorous attack I've ever seen!" He walked up to them from behind a house where he had taken cover.

"I can't believe a mere Bubble Beam could do so much damage!" he remarked.

"Well," Reimu said emerging from the bush, "that's the point I was trying to make to Hala, that he should have battled Hau first, but he didn't listen and now look what happened. The place is a mess!"

"Ah, that's alright," Hala said, "I'll have the place rebuilt in a jiffy, and I'll also have my Crabrawler back soon as I can find it."

"Kokokokokokokoko!" a cry could be heard off in the distance.

"Seems Tapu Koko thought the attack was intense, too!" Kukui remarked.

"Sure seems that way," Hala said back to him.

Hala approached Hau. "Hau?"

"Yes grandpa?" he said.

"I know you want to get on with your island challenge, but it seems there's been an upset here after Brionne's attack, and I can't properly conduct your Grand Trial like this. So I want to put a rain check on it; you can come back and try it once I have this all built back up."

Hau pouted a bit, since it meant he wouldn't have his Grand Trial under his belt while the two girls did. But then he thought, well, I can always come back, as long as summer doesn't end before then.

"Okay, gramps," he said.

"Of course, I don't want you to be left behind in terms of Z-power," Hala told him. He then got in front of all three and held out three Fightinium-Zs.

"For each of you," he said, "for your valiant battling skills."

"Thanks!" Lillie smiled, taking hers. The other two got theirs from Hala as well, thanked him, and then all three started back down to the professor's house.

* * *

"Alright, so, Marisa comes up to my shrine, right, and she's asking me if she can spend some time picking mushrooms." Reimu was telling more stories over dinner, which was lasagna.

"Mushrooms?" Hau asked.

"Oh yeah, Marisa's a huge mushroom nerd. She picks them and extracts their magical properties so she can use them in potions. She was looking for this one that gives you the ability to turn anyone into small children, but only for 24 hours, because she wanted to play a prank on Alice. I told her I didn't have any, and she asks why."

"Why?" Kukui asked.

"Because I ate the last one. And then I turned her into a kindergartner!"

"Oh my god, really?!" Burnet exclaimed.

"Yes!"

Everyone at the table howled with laughter when she said this. After catching his breath, Kukui asked her "and then what happened?"

"I invited Suika, Remilia, and Aunn over and we played dress-up with her! She was SO embarrassed! And then we put her to bed and fed her a bottle like a little baby, and after she went to sleep, we all got drunk and passed out."

"Sounds like that's how most nights end in Gensokyo," Lillie remarked. "Everyone gets drunk."

"Pretty much," Reimu replied. "Anyway, it gets even better. Alice comes over, with Sunshine, and asks where Marisa is because she didn't come home last night. I told her that Marisa was too hungover to go home before little miss witchy herself shows up and demands to know what the hell we did last night after she went to sleep, only to stare Sunshine right in the eyes."

"Oh snap," Kukui remarked. "And Sunshine is their kid, I'm assuming?"

"Yeah. The poor thing was so confused. You could cut the silence with a knife. But you won't believe what happened next."

"What?" Burnet asked.

"I decided – drunkenly, now that I think about it – to turn myself into a small child and told her 'it's not unusual.'"

The table howled even harder with laughter this time. "Ohhhhhhhhhhh, shoot that was a good one!" Kukui exclaimed pounding the table with his fist.

"Yeah, she was a pretty confused little kid," Reimu remarked. "Anyhow, so Marisa eventually turns back, and swears revenge on me by challenging me to danmaku, which she thought she would win hands-down because I'm a child, right?"

"Nope?" Burnet asked.

"Correct," Reimu replied, "I handed her ass to her."

"Ooh, that stings," Kukui said smiling.

"That was a month ago," Reimu said. "She still hasn't gotten back at me for it." She then looked down. "Although now I'm kind of hoping she gets the chance and I'm not stuck here forever."

Burnet patted her on the back. "We'll get you back somehow. Don't worry."

"Yeah," Reimu mumbled.

Reimu noticed Nebby wandering around, which made her realize something.

"By the way," Reimu asked, "what is Nebby?"

Lillie spoke up, "Nebby is a very rare creature called a Cosmog. Not much is really known about it, other than that it can open Ultra Wormholes."

Reimu's ears perked up. "Ultra Wormholes?"

"Correct," Lillie said. "It can do things like open Ultra Wormholes and teleport under stress, but it takes a lot out of it, and could kill it if it actually tried to open a Wormhole. We think it's a baby form of something, but we're not quite sure."

"How did you come to have it, then?" Reimu asked her.

"I stole it. From mother."

Reimu edged in closer, eyes widened. "I see."

"I couldn't bear to see the experiments they were trying to do on it, so I ran off with it."

"I take it your mother was abusive?" Reimu asked her.

"Not really," Lillie told her, "just mad and obsessed to me and Gladion's detriment."

"Gladion?" Reimu asked.

"My brother. He ran away two years ago with another experiment. I don't know what happened to him after that."

"Mmm-hmm," Reimu thought. "And then what is your mother obsessed with?"

"Finding father," Lillie told her. "I never knew him, and mother never really talked about him, or Gladion's twin sister, who both disappeared into an Ultra Wormhole before I was born. Every time she tried, she just broke down into tears. So she became obsessed with finding them, more so in recent years, and often took out her frustration on us."

"Ouch," Reimu said. "Yeah, I know what neglectful, abusive parents are like. That's why Yukari practically raised me."

"Oh," Lillie said softly. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Reimu told her. "It's just something I accepted." It was so strange, how they, two people from different dimensions, could have things like this in common. She had been chucked through an Ultra Wormhole, Lillie had a father and sister who were, and both had abusive parents.

* * *

After dinner, they stayed up a while telling more stories to each other before eventually deciding to head to bed.

"Alright, kids, I need to go to work tomorrow, and Kukui will be very busy tomorrow as well," Burnet called out. "Don't stay up partying all night."

"Oh don't worry about that," Reimu said. "We're beat."

"After all that adventuring, I'll bet!" Kukui said.

Reimu and Lillie both got ready for bed. Brushing her teeth, Lillie decided to strike up one last conversation.

"So Reimu," she asked, "what will you do now that you're here? I mean, here in Alola?"

"Well," Reimu responded, "this Island Challenge is fun, I could keep doing it while I search for a way back." She spit out her toothpaste. "By the way," she asked, "about that Cosmog."

"What about Nebby?" Lillie replied.

"Do you think, and this is just hypothetical, but do you think, under duress, it created the wormhole that sent me here?"

"I highly doubt it," Lillie said back. "Nebby's never generated a wormhole and the last time it was under stress was over three months ago when I ran off with it."

"Doesn't mean it can't do it through time and space," Reimu said.

"That's true, I suppose," Lillie replied.

After brushing their teeth, both of them crawled into bed in Lillie's loft.

"Goodnight, Lillie," Reimu said shutting off the lamp.

"Goodnight," Lillie said softly, drifting off into sleep.


	13. Prism Shine

It was cold, dark, and uncaring.

Sunshine had been here before. Or had she? She wasn't quite sure. Several months after the creation of her new body, sleeping was still a strange sensation for her. What was even stranger, though, was when things happened one moment, then the next she was in bed. Alice explained to her that these were "dreams," and that people had them whenever they slept. Sometimes they were good dreams, other times they were bad; these bad dreams were called "nightmares."

She wasn't sure if she was in a nightmare, but it was a dream she had had many times before. She knew she was dreaming because this was a place she only ever visited in her dreams. And it always seemed to happen at random intervals, but ended more or less the same way. And she'd been having it more and more.

She looked around. The sky was completely dark, with several large, glassy towers in strange shapes rising high into the sky all around her. There were little lights coming from these buildings, but the most significant source of light was a thin tower with a disc at the top beaming with light, and she was on a path that directly approached it.

She looked inside some of the buildings. There were strange figures in them. They looked like people, but with blue skin. All of them seemed cowering – she eventually figured, after having this dream so many times, that they were cowering in fear of the thing inside the beaming tower. The doors were locked, and there were impassable roadblocks everywhere.

There was only one way to end this dream, and it was uncomfortable every time it happened. And it often shook her awake with fear or agitation.

She approached the tower, which had a door at the bottom leading into an elevator. Next to it was a sign labeling the tower "Megalo Tower." Entering the elevator car, the door closed and went up, the glass walls giving her a view of the darkened, blue-hued cityscape that was nonetheless dwarfed by the tower, which seemed to pierce the void and go up forever.

Eventually, the elevator stopped, opening up to a metal spiral staircase. She began walking up. It was still a nervous experience, but she's done this song and dance enough now that much of the suspense factor was gone. She knew what was waiting for her at the top, so there was no reason to delay the inevitable.

The spiral staircase went up for quite a ways, before taking a turn leading straight up to a stage. The doll steeled herself briefly, before walking up to it.

As she stepped onto the stage and approached the center, a small gleam of light beamed down onto the stage. She stopped, and looked up. It had been expecting her, it seemed, the being in this dream, since it came down a bit early. She figured that it had a reason to keep bringing her into this dream realm, and it was to the point now that it was routine.

The beam grew in intensity until several rays concentrated into the center of the stage, forming a ball of light which steadily grew into a tall mass. After a few moments, a pair of gemstone eyes, one blue and one red, emerged visibly from the light. Moments after that, the being's arms and huge, clawed feet emerged from the light.

It stared down at her, and she stared back. The two looked at each other for some number of seconds.

Sometimes, these dreams just ended like this with nothing else happening. Other times, the being would grow in intensity until the sheer brightness woke her up. But this time, she was dreaming more lucidly, and had some control over what was going on.

So she spoke to it. "Why do you keep bringing me here?" she asked.

The being seemed a bit surprised by this, since its eyes went back slightly as if the head they were on – if it had a head – went back in surprise. So it decided to do something a little different. It reached out with one of its arms, and a pair of light rays struck Sunshine, almost seeming to burn straight to her core.

She looked up suddenly, and her arms went out. She wasn't fully in control now. Her blank stare wasn't focused on anything, except a brilliant flashing light just above the being. At first, it was too bright to look at without going blind. However, her eyes then shifted in shape until they were the same gemstone matrix makeup as the being. Then, not only could she look at it, she couldn't focus on anything else.

Arms out, and with the air flowing up from under her, she levitated up, and began absorbing this ball of light. It seemed... pleasurable, in ways, even, that an eight- or- nine year-old seeming doll shouldn't be experiencing. She almost got drunk off of it.

Then, it was cut off suddenly, and all was dark. The being was no longer there, and she was surrounded in darkness. She begun writhing in excruciating pain which engulfed her entire body. She clutched herself to try and nurse the pains, before the light flashed back again. Then a rush of power hit her again, and all her limbs spread out and she cried out.

"...lie...LIE...LIE..."

* * *

"LLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!"

She shot up out of her bed screaming. If she wasn't a doll, she would be gasping for air about now. After shaking her head and getting her bearings, she realized she was back in her bedroom, the sun outside barely breaking the horizon.

Alice heard the scream and rushed into her room, still in her nightgown. "Sweetie!" she exclaimed comforting Sunshine, "are you alright?!"

It took her a few moments to respond. "Um," she muttered quietly. It took her a few moments to come up with what to say next. "I had that dream again."

Alice looked at her wondering, then remembered what dream she was talking about. Sunshine had described this dream to her mothers a few times, but this time it seemed particularly severe, since instead of just waking up suddenly or with a short shriek, this was a sustained scream where she called out for light.

"Oh," Alice said to her patting her. "I see."

* * *

"And how often have you had this dream?" Eirin asked.

Sunshine took a moment to respond. "Several times," she said. "And I've been having it... more often."

Eirin took down some notes. "Okay," she said, "and you said that this one was different from the others?"

"...yes," Sunshine said. "It took me and... showed me a ball of light and... I don't know how to describe it. Only it felt real, like it wasn't a dream, but it was."

"Let's take a step back," Eirin said. She brought out a paper and some coloring pencils. "Can you draw the being in this dream for me, please?"

Sunshine looked at the paper for a bit. She wasn't too sure how to draw something that was always cloaked in light. It didn't seem right for her to just draw limbs and eyes floating in midair. Still, she took a crack at it for the good doctor. She started with the gem-eyes, then drew the arms, then the clawed feet. Finally, she filled it in with yellow lines to represent the fact that it was beaming with light.

"Here," she said giving the drawing to the doctor.

Eirin studied the drawing for a bit. "And you've never seen what it looks like beneath the light?" she asked.

"Yes," Sunshine nodded. "That's true."

"Okay," Eirin remarked, "I think you've given me all you can. I would like to speak with your mothers in private, if I may."

She led Sunshine out of the room and gestured Alice and Marisa in. Out in the waiting room, she fiddled around with some dolls and toys left out for kids. Occasionally, one of Tewi's rabbits would come by and check her out, curious of the living doll, and then leave. She didn't mind; Gensokyo's quirks were, after all, entirely normal to her.

"So?" Alice asked somewhat impatiently.

Eirin turned around and showed them the picture that she had drawn for her.

"I gotta tell ya," Marisa said, "she's pretty good for something that only got a human-sized body a few months ago."

"Well, that's the only way she could talk to us for a time," Alice smiled.

They turned back towards the doctor, who seemed to be waiting to say something.

"So she's been having this dream more frequently, and the Butterfly Dream Pills don't seem to do anything?"

"That's correct," Alice said. "You said if they weren't working or if the dream came back to come back right away." Sunshine had been to Eirin's office a couple times in the past month regarding the dream. Most doctors weren't good at interpreting dreams, but Eirin was a natural at it; the only one more qualified was Doremy, who was unreachable most of the time.

"Hmm," Eirin muttered. She sifted through some notes and documents, before producing one she had written seemingly a long time ago regarding dream intrusion.

"The only thing I can think of at this point, given what you've all told me, is that someone or something is intruding her dreams for some reason."

Alice gripped her seat a little and her eyes widened. Marisa, meanwhile, just seemed like she wanted to get out of there and go treasure-hunting.

"Intruding?" Alice asked nervously.

"Some beings in Gensokyo are capable of entering others' dreams and manipulating them, although they can take a form which is vastly different from their real form while doing so. I suspect this is exactly what is happening with Sunshine. Unfortunately, there are only two ways to deal with this. One is to find the thing doing it and get it to stop, which is much easier said than done."

"And the other?" Alice asked.

Eirin produced a piece of foil from a drawer and showed it to them. "This is a telekill foil. It stops any and all psychic waves attempting to pass through it. I'm going to give Sunshine a special nightcap which contains this foil, and she needs to wear it every night for two weeks. Eventually, whatever is invading her dreams should grow bored and stop doing so. If it does not, keep using it until it does. In the meantime, you should be on the lookout for beings that often do this such as tapirs and satori."

Alice took the nightcap, hoping that it would work and that whatever was tormenting her daughter would go away. Marisa, though, seemed more interested in finding who or what was doing it so she could beat them up.

As they walked out of Eirin's office, Alice popped a thought.

"Marisa," she asked, "do you suppose that, if something is intruding Sunshine's dreams, they could have a connection to Reimu's disappearance?"

"Beats the heck outta me," Marisa replied. "Things going into other's dreams is something I've seen a lot. Something sucking up Reimu into an interdimentional vacuum cleaner, well... actually, I could see Yukari doing that just to mess with her."

"I highly doubt that," Alice said. "Yukari might be a jerk at times, and a little whacked in the head, but she would never knowingly put Reimu in harm's way."

"Just tryin' to scratch off possibilities," Marisa said cheekily.

"Then why don't you go searching for more leads?" Alice asked. "I had my turn yesterday, and I got a tip from some fairies that Cirno might know something."

"Cirno?" Marisa sneered. "Please, those fairies are messin' with ya. Just because she's not as dumb as she used to be, I don't think she'd be able to tell tofu from a pile of moldy mushrooms. But, I guess I could go pump somethin' outta her. If nothing else, we're getting' paid top dollar for this, and I'm always itchin' for an incident to solve!"

She got on her broom and took off.

Alice looked on with Sunshine. "More like find an excuse to get her hands dirty."

* * *

The school was on a break, so the two magicians would take turns watching Sunshine while the other was out on errands – or in this case, hunting for the errant shrine maiden. Alice's days with the young doll often involved practicing more with more complex kanji and sentence structures, as well as some arts and crafts and playing outside. Marisa, however, preferred to teach her how to get good at the traditional Gensokyan handshake – that is, danmaku battles, the scars of which were plainly visible all around the house grounds. Most of the time, said lessons would amount to Marisa kidnapping a random fairy and having her and Ichigo spam thousands of rounds into it until it stopped moving, rather than anything constructive. Alice thought it was sadistic, even if fairies couldn't actually be killed, while Marisa defended it by saying they deserved it, one way or another, and how else was Sunshine going to learn?

Alice led the doll home, and when they returned, she told Sunshine that she had to work on some new dolls. When asked why, she only said that she lost a fair number trying to pump Yuuka for information following rumors of a giant red insect prowling the Garden of the Sun. She put Sunshine in her room and instructed her to work some more on making her own dolls while she was off doing her own thing.

But, Sunshine didn't really feel like making dolls. She couldn't take the thing in her dreams off her mind. It seemed to haunt her, follow her, as if it wanted to show her something badly. And after that dream last night, she was still a bit shaken. She had to get it out somehow.

So she grabbed a piece of paper and decided to start drawing Megalo Tower. After seeing it so many times, the intricate details started impressing into her mind: the light, the metal supports, the glass elevator, even the plaque out front proclaiming the tower's name. She needed to get this world out somehow and communicate just what she was going through. She put in so much detail, she even started shading in where the light cast long shadows on the darkened city landscape that surrounded the tower.

Then, she heard a thump.

She looked around, and it sounded like it came from outside.

Now, she knew she'd been told by Alice to practice making dolls, and normally her own doll instincts made such instructions hard to ignore. But she was already deviating from that by drawing instead, and she wanted to know what was outside that made the thump. So she got up and went out the door, and went to the part outside the house where the thump was heard.

As she rounded the corner, she saw a large object lying on the ground. Getting closer, she could see it was a rock with what looked like a small fairy attached to it, with pink gemstones poking out of it. She flipped it over, and saw that it was, in fact, a fairy of some sort, one that had a large, pink, circular brillianteered gem on its forehead and pink gemstones arranged in a way that resemble a tiara and hair, wearing what looked like a small, white dress. She could tell it was injured, seeing a small hole on its chest where a gemstone should go.

Having had run-ins with youkai and fairies before, and given Alice wanting to keep her away from them for the most part until she was older, Sunshine knew that she might not appreciate her bringing a strange fairy into the house, but this one looked gravely injured and needed help. She decided to pick it up and bring it into her room to try and help it. It was surprisingly light for its size and composition, but nine kilograms was still a lot of weight for a child like her to lift at once, so she needed both hands as she hauled it into the house and plopped it onto her bed.

She examined the fairy, and tried to puzzle out how best to assist it. Ultimately, she realized, the best solution was to try and replace its missing gem somehow, but where to get gems? One of her moms might have some, but would they work or fit? And would they let her have one?

She was thinking this through when she heard rustling from her bed. She looked over, and saw the fairy start to move. So she went over to try to help it out.

The fairy opened its eyes, which were red with lighter red pupils, and propped itself up with its arms, looking at Sunshine.

Sunshine spoke to it. "Are you okay?" The fairy just looked on. "Can you understand me?"

It nodded.

"Then can you speak?" she asked. The fairy shook its head and murmured a weak cry.

"So you can't speak people language but you can understand me?" she then asked. It nodded.

"I see," she said softly.

At that moment, she heard the front door slam. It was Marisa, fresh off her search for answers into Reimu's disappearance.

"I'm home!" she hollered at the top of her lungs. Several dolls raced out the back door to fetch Alice, who came in a couple minutes later.

"Did you find out anything?" Alice asked.

"Well, yeah, I suppose," Marisa replied. "See, I – "

Sunshine came into the room. "Mom? Mom?" she said.

"Yes dear?" Alice asked.

"I need to show you something." She led them into her room, where the injured fairy was still lying on her bed.

The two magicians examined it. "Well, well," Marisa said poking it. "What do we have here?"

"It fell outside the house and I went to see what it was," Sunshine responded truthfully. "I think it's hurt," she said, pointing at the hole in its chest.

"Well, I suppose if it's a fairy, we could just shoot it and it would respawn somewhere!" Marisa quipped.

Alice backhanded her. "Don't say things like that! Always thinking about violence to solve things, God!" She turned her attention to the fairy. "And in any case, this doesn't seem like that kind of fairy."

"What do you mean?" Marisa asked.

"Well," Alice said, "this isn't a Gensokyo fairy, that's for sure. It looks to me like a carbuncle of some sort. I've read about these in beast compendiums, they're native to the Andes Mountains of South America. They can resemble anything from sprites to small animals, but they all have gems on their foreheads like this one here." She pointed at the hole on its chest. "And I suppose a gem is supposed to go here." She thought, then came up with something. "Give me a moment." She went back outside to her workshop.

A couple minutes later she came back with a small diamond. "Perhaps we can patch it up. I was going to use this in some magic experiments later, but I suppose we could help out this creature instead since Sunshine saved it." She handed the diamond to Sunshine. "Can you gently hold this up to the carbuncle?"

"Um, sure," Sunshine said. She held the diamond up to the fairy. Then, the fairy, on its own, held its hands up to the diamond and it started flashing. A few seconds later, it was assimilated onto its body, a perfectly cut, pink diamond brooch.

With that, it levitated up into the air, then spun around exclaiming in joy before turning to Sunshine.

"I think it likes you," Marisa remarked.

All three of them smiled at the fairy, who did a happy dance around Sunshine's room. Then, it turned towards Alice, and held out its hands. A light shone briefly between them, and out of it grew a diamond like the one she had gave Sunshine.

Alice was flattered. "For me?" It nodded. She carefully took it and put it in a pocket.

The fairy then pointed at the window in Sunshine's room. "Huh?" Sunshine asked. "Do you want to go back outside?" It nodded yes. So they let it lead them outside to a forest clearing.

It motioned with its hand to have them step back, while it faced toward a stump on the far end of the clearing. It then raised its hands in the air, where several lights flashed all around it, forming into a flurry of diamonds, large and small, which it then cast at the stump at full force, eviscerating it. The magicians and the doll stood back in awe at the sight.

It wasn't quite done however. Following this, it flipped into the air, where it held up its hands again to summon a misty ball of light from the sky, and fire it down at the remains of the stump, creating a misty explosion.

After all that, it floated back down towards the trio with a confident look on its face.

"Bravo," Marisa clapped. "Guess lil' squirt here fixed you right back up to fightin' capacity!"

At that moment, for whatever reason, Ichigo floated right up to the fairy. The fairy was curious about the figure in front of it, and decided to poke it, provoking a reaction from Ichigo. The haphazard floating doll fired off a few bullets in random directions in response, before approaching the fairy again. They seemed to stare at each other for a while, then the fairy did something interesting. It went behind Sunshine and pretended to replace Ichigo as her little fairy companion. It matched sunshine's movements, circled around her briefly, and then went up to her bosom and clung onto it like Sunshine was her mother.

Then, a voice rushed into Sunshine's head.

"COME."

She looked around. "Who's there?"

Alice was confused. "I didn't hear anything. What's wrong?"

The fairy seemed to hear it too, and it got off of Sunshine and pointed towards the forest.

"Hmm?" Alice wondered. "Do you want to show us something?" Then, she realized. "Oh, do you want to lead us somewhere?"

The fairy nodded.

"Alright," Alice said. She summoned some fighting dolls around her. "Marisa, you stay here with Sunshine while I go see what our little friend wants to show off so bad."

"No problem," Marisa responded as she took Sunshine back. However, the fairy flew over to Sunshine, stopping them while shaking its head.

"Oh?" Marisa remarked. "Whaddya want with her, then?"

The fairy grabbed Sunshine and pulled on her shirt while pointing at the trees, as if to say it wanted her to go with.

"You want her to go with?" Marisa asked it. It nodded.

Alice was a little suspicious. "I don't like this. We did save it, but I'm still not totally convinced that it has Sunshine's best interests in mi- "

"COME."

This time, all of them heard it. It was a loud, booming feminine voice that seemed to come from the thicket.

"What the hell was that?!" Marisa exclaimed, still looking around.

"Well," Alice said, "obviously, someone wants us to come." Curious, they let the fairy lead them into the forest. Both Marisa and Alice were resolute to stifle a skirmish should one come up. Even Sunshine was hyper-aware, making sure Ichigo was ready to leap into action any moment.

As they picked their way through the forest, the fairy would occasionally form gem-blades to slash through the underbrush like a machete, and shone like a beacon to light the way through the dark understory of the wood. Both magicians and the doll were still trying to be aware of their surroundings to make sure nothing was up. But, they also realized the carbuncle was sincere about leading them someplace and making sure they got there without incident, even sniping some trouble-making fae along the route to avoid skirmishes.

They walked for a short while before they saw bright lights through the trees. Emerging from them, they entered a clearing, and were absolutely awestruck by what they encountered.

Alice was wide-eyed as she examined it. "Oh. My. God," she said softly.

It was the most beautiful meadow either of them had ever laid eyes on. Sunlight beamed through the leaves above, striking emerald-green grass crisscrossed with streams and springs. Wildflowers emerged from various spots around and throughout the meadow, while bees and butterflies scattered throughout, hopping between the flowers while the calls of birds could be heard in the canopy above.

Perhaps the most striking feature, however, was what was at the center of the meadow, taking a drink from the spring. It was a massive cervine creature, blue with a black underside, and large, spindly blue gem-encrusted antlers emerging from its head. It was unlike any other living thing that the three had seen in their lives.

They stood back, awestruck but intimidated. The fairy, however, bounded towards it enthusiastically.

Another telepathic voice came up. "Master Xerneas, I'm here! And I brought guests!"

The blue deer, apparently named "Xerneas," looked up at them, its piercing gaze staring right into them, instilling both respect and some fear in the magicians, before looking up at the fairy.

"Diancie," the familiar booming voice said. "I was beginning to wonder when you would arrive."

"Well, I got separated, then fell and lost my brooch gem. But this girl here saved me, so I led her here!"

"I see," Xerneas responded. The deer looked at Sunshine. The doll wasn't too sure what to make of the beast as it scrutinized her with its piercing gaze.

"So, your name is... Sunshine," it remarked.

"Um... yes?" the doll said, a little nervously.

"I've been expecting you," it said.

Alice looked up and stammered "wait, expected? What do you mean?"

"Let me introduce myself," it said to them. "I am Xerneas, and this is my helper, Diancie. I understand your daughter here saved her."

Alice spoke up. "Well, I helped, but she found it outside and put a replacement diamond back onto it, yes."

"That counts just as well," Xerneas said to her. It then turned to Sunshine. "I am grateful to you. Most likely, Diancie would have lost power and stopped moving had you not saved her, and even my power would not have been able to fully resuscitate her."

Sunshine was curious. "What is your power?"

Xerneas took a pose that resembled an X from the front. "I represent life and birth. I have the ability to exude life and create it where there is none."

Marisa decided to get smart at that moment. "Sounds like one of Junko's plots with the Hell fairies and clearing out the moon."

"I do not know of a 'Junko,'" it said. "That must be a different entity. I simply represent one axis of the wheel of life, death and order."

Sunshine was curious. "So, if you're life, then who's death? Who's order?"

Xerneas was willing to answer. "There is my counterpart, Yveltal. It flies the skies, bringing death and ruin where it goes. However, it is not evil, but a necessary force of destruction, because life without death is dangerous and unstable. And between us is the mediator, Zygarde, whose aura and all-seeing eye keeps us in check."

"What brings you here to Gensokyo?" Sunshine asked.

"Life knows no boundaries," it responded simply.

A few seconds of silence passed, before it stood back in the center of the meadow. Its antlers glowed, so that instead of blue they became a bright ivory with multicolored gems dotting them, resembling DNA strands. The area dimmed, as Xerneas began brimming with energy.

As it began absorbing power, magic circles began to take shape around the meadow. Arcane symbols dotted the inside edges of the power circles, and columns of light began to shoot up from the ground.

Somehow, Sunshine got the feeling that she should step into these circles. As she began to step forward, Alice tried to stop her.

"Wait, don't!" she called out, reaching out. But, Sunshine seemed entranced by the activity, and Ichigo felt no choice but to follow her master within.

As the power circles intensified and the beams of light shot up in luminosity, she stopped about halfway from the center, reached her arms out to her sides, and began to levitate up.

"What's going on?" Marisa asked. At this point the power grew so intense that both her and Alice had trouble holding their ground as the power of the circles pushed out.

Both Sunshine and Ichigo began to absorb energy emanating from the Geomancy circles, which swirled around them and engulfed them until they were no longer visible by Alice or Marisa.

"What's happening?!" Alice yelled out whilst averting her eyes from the light, which was now too bright to look at. Several dolls were being blown back by the force of the act, winds were whipping up and loose leaves scattering around in a loose tornado around the meadow.

Finally, Xerneas released all the pent-up energy at once, creating a forceful blast which knocked the puppeteer and the magician down to the ground. The energy bowed around towards Sunshine, entering her all at once before she released a burst of light, which even made the rock-hard Diancie, who had witnessed several of these events, flinch.

* * *

As the dust settled and the area returned to normal, Alice got up and raced over to Sunshine, who was now lying on the ground face-down. Ichigo was nowhere to be seen. Alice was rush with fear, wondering what had just happened to her little girl.

"Sunshine!" she exclaimed. "Are you alright?!"

At first, the girl wasn't making any noise. That's when Alice, while frisking her to see if she was alright, noticed something strange. Her doll joints, once clear as day, didn't seem to be visible; instead, they were more natural-looking joints. What's more, she seemed warm, and also seemed to be breathing, things which she didn't do before.

It didn't take her long at all to figure out what this all meant.

She looked up at Xerneas, and was about to speak before it spoke for her.

"I gave your daughter life where was none."

Alice was awestruck. She looked down at Sunshine, who was starting to stir and groan. She flipped her over to get a clear view of her face.

"Sunshine, can you hear me?"

The doll groaned and slowly opened her eyes. She looked up, first a bit dazed, then focused on her mom.

"..."

Marisa came over to her, but Alice gestured for her to stay back a bit.\

"How ya feelin', kid?" she asked.

"...mmm." Sunshine was still wriggling and groaning. She tried getting up, but the sensation of her new body was completely alien, so she fell a couple of times.

"Don't rush it," Alice told her. "This is a totally new feeling for you." She was barely managing not to cry tears of joy.

Eventually, Sunshine managed to get up, and stay up, on her own two feet. She looked at herself: no doll joints, no other signs of being a doll... for all intents and purposes, she resembled a real girl.

"Ichigo," she muttered. "Where's Ichigo?"

A small object flew out of some leaves kicked around by the whirlwind and met Sunshine, but it didn't seem like Ichigo. Her doll companion was haphazardly made and painted, but this doll was much nicer and seemed to be dressed more like a witch or wizard. However, upon closer inspection, it appeared the robes were part of its body.

"What happened to Ichigo?" Sunshine asked Xerneas. It didn't hesitate to reply.

"I also gave your doll life where there was none," it responded, "but it seems, not in a way it had before."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked.

"It seems," Xerneas remarked, "our little doll has become a new Pokémon species."

Sunshine was confused. "Pokémon?" she asked.

Alice was confused too. "Pokémon?"

Marisa, however, paused and shuddered. "...pokémon?"

Alice looked at her. "Marisa? What is it?" It was odd to her, Marisa's behavior just now was, well, highly uncharacteristic of her overall nature.

Marisa shook her head. "It's nothing. Sunshine?"

She stared forward at a stump at the far end of the meadow. Alice was confused. Why was she staring at that stump? What was so special about it?

Then, Sunshine began to focus, and as she did, she began to glow softly. Both Alice and Marisa were taken aback. Was she about to cast a spell? Patchouli had said that as a doll she didn't have any inherent magical abilities, but maybe whatever Xerneas did that made her not a doll changed that?

Finally, after some moments, some bright, white lights shaped like gemstones came from her body, and when she unleashed her focus, each projected a white laser blast at the stump, blowing it to pieces.

At first, Alice and Marisa were stunned. What kind of attack had Sunshine just used now? Were her powers gemstone-related, just like Diancie's? But that stunned feeling soon melted into manic elation from her moms. Marisa glomped her and swung her around in the air, hugging her tightly while shouting "you did it kid! You did it! You used your own first attack!" After putting her down, Alice, wiping away tears of joy, came up to her.

"That was superb," she said. "Now what would you like to call that attack?"

Sunshine didn't really know. The attack just... happened, like it was instinct. She didn't really know what she had just done.

"Well," she began, "I..."

"POWER GEM."

That voice come into her head again.

"...power gem?"

"Power Gem?" Alice asked. "That's... a nice name!" It really wasn't that original, but she was only a child, so Alice couldn't afford to be picky.

Alice looked back at Xerneas, whose gaze seemed to shoot right through her soul.

"After she gets stronger, I want her to come back and face me in a test of might. In the meantime," it trailed off while Diancie approached her, "I want you to take Diancie with you and help her get stronger."

Diancie floated towards Sunshine sheepishly. Sunshine didn't know what to think, but the new Ichigo and Diancie seemed to check each other out quite a bit.

She felt a new fairy companion couldn't hurt, so she went with her mothers back to the cottage, new family member in tow.

A few moments passed, before that voice accosted Xerneas.

"DOES SHE HAVE LIFE?"

Xerneas spoke in a low tone, "yes, she does. Are you sure this is a good thing to do?"

"SHE NEEDS POWER. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY."

"Mmm, alright," Xerneas responded. The presence disappeared.


	14. Surf's Up

Early in the morning, Reimu found herself unable to get back to sleep, so she decided to get up early and head downstairs to make breakfast.

As she made her way down, the smell of fresh coffee wafting through the air was enough to tell her that someone was already up. She still didn't quite know what to make of the stuff, but did find a balance of cream and sugar that worked for getting it down. She still preferred tea, however.

She came down and saw Burnet at the stove cooking something up. Upon closer inspection, it was eggs.

"Oh," Burnet said, a little surprised, while turning around. "Morning, Reimu. I wasn't expecting you to be up so early!"

"I couldn't get back to sleep," Reimu said, "so I got up early."

"I see," Burnet said to her before turning back to her cooking. "What's your plan today?"

"Me and Lillie and Hau are going to go to the next island, it sounds like."

"Of course it is!" Burnet exclaimed. "That means Akala Island, to the east. I work at my lab there. Would you like a lift?"

"Sure, I would," Reimu replied. It would be so much easier if she could just fly, but...

Burnet made some extra food for Reimu and they talked a little more about their plans. Reimu thought Burnet's work at the Dimensional Research lab was interesting, and definitely a stop that she needed to make. After all, any leads she could find pointing towards a way back home were worth looking into, and the only reason she was doing this Island Challenge was to both get out and do something, as well as find more opportunities to get back home.

Of course, the adventure was beginning to grow on her...

* * *

The familiar call of the Charizard outside heralded the mail call.

"Reimu," Burnet asked, "could you go outside and get the mail?"

"Sure thing," Reimu said back. The mail seemed a little early today, but perhaps there was no set schedule. This place, or at least this island, seemed laid-back in general.

She headed out, just as the dragon landed and the boy on it put letters in Kukui's mail box.

"Morning," Reimu said to him.

He turned around. "Morning! How are you?"

"I'm doing fine, I suppose," Reimu answered.

"Well, I suppose that – waaait a second," he said, recognizing her. "Aren't you that girl that rips people to shreds in Pokémon battles with your Torracat?"

"That could be anyone," she said.

"And you came out of the wormhole?"

Reimu conceded, "alright, fine, yes, it's me."

"I've heard all about you!" he said out. "Your name is, uh..."

"My name is Reimu Hakurei."

"Reimu! Yeah! My name's Elio. As you can see, I do mail routes on this island."

"I can see that," she said. She looked at Charizard. She was jealous that people here could tame beasts to fly them around while she couldn't fly herself, at least at the moment.

"Nice Charizard," she remarked. "Is it yours?"

"Actually, it is," Elio answered. "Most people use the Ride Pager Charizards, but ol' Alduin here was my starter back in Kanto seven years ago. My eleventh birthday, I went to Professor Oak to pick him out, and we were such a natural fit. We beat all the gyms, and were just about to challenge the Elite Four."

"And then what?" Reimu asked.

"Well, and then we moved here, me, my mom, dad, sister, the whole family. Mom's from here, and dad got a job offer here, so we moved."

"Interesting," Reimu replied.

"Yeah, I was a little bitter about never finishing my league challenge, so I did the Island Challenge here instead, and beat it, and so did sis."

"What does your sister do, if you deliver mail?" Reimu asked.

"She teaches archery at a day camp over on Akala," Elio replied. "Did you know she can hit a squirrel right in the eye?"

"No I did not," Reimu answered, "although, I know someone who's a master archer as well, probably far more so than your sister," she said, thinking of Eirin.

"I see," Elio said. "Well, I gotta get back to work." He mounted his Charizard, mail bag in tow. "Nice talking to you. Hup!"

"It was nice to meet you too," Reimu said as he took off into the light of dawn.

Professor Kukui came out at that time with his Lycanroc Suzie.

"Talkin' to the mail boy?" he asked her.

"Indeed I was," Reimu replied.

"You know," he said smiling, "you're really bad at lying."

"Why else do you think I get into the fights that I do?" Reimu smirked. Both shared a brief snicker before Kukui got started on his morning exercises.

Reimu was about to go back inside when he heard grass rustling in the direction of the footpath leading to the lab. She looked, thinking it was just Kukui, but in fact it was a Tauros with someone on top of it.

The Tauros pulled up in front of the lab, and Hau dismounted it.

"Whoa, boy!" he called out. After he dismounted, he pulled out a small yellow device and pushed a button on it, causing the Tauros to dematerialize.

"Whoa! What was that?!" Reimu exclaimed.

"That? Oh, that was my Ride Pager!" Hau responded. "Gramps gave me one last night after the trial, and he said he wanted to give one to you and Lillie too!" He handed a Ride Pager to Reimu.

"Uh, thanks!" Reimu said, still unsure about the whole deal.

"No prob!" Hau smiled.

They both went inside to have breakfast, which Burnet had cooked up by now.

"Hi Hau!" she smiled. "I wasn't expecting you to be up this early!"

"Sleep can wait!" he said. "All I want is adventure!"

"That's the spirit!" she said to him. "Would you like some eggs?"  
"Sure!" Hau smiled.

By then , Lillie had gotten up and showered, and all five were sitting around the table talking about what their plans were for the day.

"Hey professor," Hau asked Burnet, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Hau, what is it?"

"I was wondering if I could surf to Akala instead of taking the boat there. I really wanna go Mantine Surfing!"

"Really?" Burnet's eyebrows raised. "Mantine surfing is a bit dangerous, are you sure you can do it? I can still take you all on my boat and get you there that way."

"But I wanna do it!" Hau exclaimed. "Right Reimu? Wanna come with me Mantine Surfing?"

Reimu wasn't sure what that was. "What is 'Mantine Surfing?"

"Only the coolest sport in the islands!" Hau said to her. "You get to ride on the back of a Mantine from one island to another! It's fast and fun!"

"Fast and fun, huh?" Reimu said. "Well, I guess it's worth a shot. I do like myself a good thrill every now and then."

"Awesome!" Hau said jumping up and down. "Wanna come with us, Lillie?"

Lillie sat up. "Huh? Er, uhm, I think I'll go with Burnet on the boat."

"Aw," Hau said deflated. But, in his mind, at least Reimu was going with him! That meant one of his friends and rivals would race him to Akala!

"C'mon Reimu, last one there's a rotten egg!" he said out running through the door.

"Oh? Right now?" Reimu said surprised. "Well not if I can help it!" she bolted out the door, used the Ride Pager, hopped on a Tauros, and sped up the trail in pursuit.

Both professors looked on at this scene with content.

"Y'know," Kukui said to his wife, "it's a shame she's trying to get back home. She seems to like it so much here."

"Yeah," Burnet sighed. "I wish I had that kind of wit and charisma. Maybe if she does find a way home, she can always come up with a way to return every once in a while."

"Perhaps," Kukui said.

Burnet got her things together. "Well, I've got to head to work." She kissed Kukui on the lips. "See you tonight."

"See you tonight, babe."

Burnet walked out the door. "C'mon Lillie, we're going!" she called out as Lillie threw her things together to meet her out the door.

Reimu couldn't believe how fast Tauros actually was. What was a several-hours trip on foot seemed to take no time flat on the back of a Tauros.

"I can't believe you actually beat me even though I had a head-start!" Hau smiled.

"Well, I did find a shortcut," Reimu smirked. "Not getting pulled over also helped."

"C'mon, that wasn't fair!" Hau said to her. "You were going the same speed I was!"

"Yeah, but unlike you, my Tauros didn't leave a patty in the middle of the stoplight."

Hau looked down, "well, it can't be helped."

Both stood over the cliff heading down to Big Wave Beach, the main surf spot on Melemele Island.

"Here it is!" Hau waved his arms across. "Big Wave Beach!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Reimu said. "Let's head down!"

They both walked down the trail, passing a couple surfers along the way as they did so. Reimu was interested in this whole surfing thing ever since she saw them paddling offshore near Kukui's house, and now she was able to try it out for herself.

When they actually got there, however, they encountered a ruckus. And when Reimu looked around, she could see the cause: the two Team Skull grunts from the other day dancing in front of a large manta which Reimu assumed to be Mantine.

She walked over to them. "Spending some quality time with that Mantine?" she asked sarcastically.

One of the grunts looked around. "Whoa! It's that chick from the other day, yo!"

The other one looked around too. "Yo, dude, we better split yo!"

"Dude, don't you wanna surf to that other island to meet underboss though?"

"Can't we just take the ferry?"

"Dude, we have no money, yo!"

"So? We can just hide in the cargo and then split before they see us, yo!"

"That place stink and it's cold!"

"It's our best bet now, yo!"

"Alright, if you insist. Let's go, yo!"

Reimu blocked their way. "I don't think you're going anywhere without a fight," she said clutching a Pokéball in her hand.

"But our Pokémon don't want to see yours again and we got no money, yo!"

"No fight, no passage," Reimu said crossing her arms. It was clear she was getting some enjoyment out of tormenting them like this, not unlike her mentor. The grunts seemed clearly in a bind until, "alright, break it up, break it up! You two get out of here! You're not allowed here!" A bikini-clad blonde came up shooing the grunts away.

"Let's get outta here, yo!"

As they went away, the woman spoke to Reimu. "Sorry about that. They come down to this beach every so often to try to surf even though they're banned from coming here."

"How come?" Reimu asked.

"Well, they keep trying to dance on the Mantines and wipe out every single time, so we just ban them for their own safety."

"Wow," Reimu said. What a bunch of idiots, she thought.

"Yeah, I know right?" She paused, then said, "well, anyway, welcome to Big Wave Beach! I take you're here to surf?"

"Yes we are!" Hau said bounding up to her smiling.

"Oh hey, Hau! I thought you'd be back here as soon as school ended!"

"Yeah, well, this time I'm on my Island Challenge and so is Reimu over here!"

"Island Challenge?" she said surprised. "Well, how about that! Hala's boy is finally on his Island Challenge!" she smiled. "I assume you're here to travel to Akala, then?"

"You bet!" he said jumping up and down.

"Splendid! Nothing like traveling between the islands on the back of a Mantine!" she said.

She looked over at Reimu. "Ma'am, have you done Mantine Surfing before?"

"No I have not," Reimu said to her.

"Alright then," the lady responded. "Go over there and get your wetsuit on, and we'll have you take a short swim test before we let you go on the Mantine. I'm sure this young gentleman can show you the rest," she told Reimu.

After going over to the lockers and being given a wetsuit, Reimu slipped into it and handed her clothes over to the attendant. "Don't worry, your clothes and belongings will be waiting for you once you get to Akala Island." Then, she went and did the swim test, which was mostly just to see if she could tread water long enough for the Mantine to rescue her and bring her ashore if she wiped out. Swimming in Gensokyo was a rare skill, but one which Reimu nonetheless could do just in case she couldn't fly out of water for some reason. She, of course, passed.

"Excellent!" the lady said. "I think you're all clear to go ride that surf!"

Reimu was please she could finally take off, but she was still a little nervous about trusting the Mantine to hold her up while she stood riding the waves.

She approached it and put out her hand, in order to try and get familiar with it. It nudged forward, and she rubbed its head, to which it responded with contentment.

"I think he likes you," Hau said.

Next, Reimu tried standing on it. Getting her balance was a little tricky, but she soon figured it out. Hau, of course, hopped on his like a natural.

Slowly but surely, the Mantines moved out.

"Have fun!" the lady called out.

Reimu got nervous as land got further and further away before the Mantine started turning to head along the south side of the Island.

"Hau," she asked, "I've never been out on the ocean before. Is this safe?"

"Of course it's safe!" he exclaimed. "I've done this a dozen times!"

* * *

Soon, they made their way out far enough to catch the big wave swells. There were many sea birds out today, mostly Wingull, and lots of Wailmer bobbing up and down out of the water.

"Alright," Hau said pointing. "See that wave over there?"

Reimu caught the wave to her right. It seemed ready to engulf her.

"What you wanna do is head up it, then head straight back down to catch some speed. Follow me."

The two leaned right on their Mantines to start climbing the wave. As they did, the bottom got increasing sideways from Reimu's perspective. She didn't think water could do this or get this high, but it was.

As they neared the crest of the wave, Hau motioned her to quickly slide back down to gather momentum. She did, and the rush from doing so was exhilarating.

"Awesome!" Hau said. "Now just keep doing that to get your momentum up!"

They did this a couple more times, and each time she did so Reimu could feel herself getting faster and faster.

After they gathered enough speed, Hau told her "now, head up the wave again, but this time, you're gonna fly right off into the air!"

"What?!" Reimu exclaimed. "I can do that?!"

"Mantine ain't part Flying for no reason!" Hau told her. So, once again, she headed up the wave, took a deep breath, and jumped up into the air.

When she got airborne, she could feel the Mantine flapping its fins like wings in order to stay airborne. At that height, she felt like she was on top of the world, and the familiar feeling of flying came rushing back in one huge tide.

It was enough to get her completely amped up.

"Wooooohoooooo!" she screamed as she gripped the Mantine with one arm and flailed the other in the air.

After coming back down, Hau told her "that was awesome! I knew you'd love it! Now, I got another thing for you."

"What's that?" Reimu asked.

"Tricks, of course!" he said. "So, there's one – "

"Tricks you say?" Reimu said back. "I know one I wanna do!" She gathered some more momentum before heading up the wave again. As she jumped the crest to gain altitude, she slowly spun once on her axis, being upside-down at the crest, then adjusted her position in order to come back down away from the wave at a slight angle.

In other words, she did a barrel roll.

"I know all sorts of aerial maneuvers!" Reimu exclaimed. "You think I'm a rookie at flying?!"

"Well," Hau said, "you're new to surfing, but..."

"But nothing! Last one there's a rotten egg!" She sped off towards the island off in the distance, doing fancy aerial maneuvers the whole way, with Hau struggling to catch up.

She was taking another step closer to becoming a true Alolan.


	15. Blaster

Today, Mokou died.

It happens every day. For the Hourai immortal, dying frequently for the past 1300 years has become little more than a fact of everyday life. In her constant duels with Kaguya, sometimes she one, sometimes the lunar princess won, but in this war, there was nothing but everlasting stalemate. Each time each one died, they simply regenerated, good as new. There was no such thing as permanent victory, and today was no exception.

"I'll be back for you tomorrow," she said to Kaguya.

"And I'll be waiting," the princess responded. They had been at this for so long that the name-calling and true hatred has since dissolved. Now, it seemed to both just how hopeless the situation was, so the whole routine settled down into exactly that: routine. Sure, they could stop fighting whenever they wanted, but they always had, and to Mokou it seemed inappropriate to simply stop now. She had inflicted enough pain in her mind to get revenge on her father's humiliation, but by now a certain level of sameness and respect was commanded by both sides, so they just kept doing it, with no expectation of change.

As she stepped away from the arena outside Eientei where the violent bouts occurred, wiping the blood off her face she wondered what she would do next.

She decided, as a member of the Border Patrol, to go searching for more leads.

Yukari had decided that Mokou's immortality made her perfect for investigating this incident due to her just being able to regenerate from whatever eldritch damage the thing causing the incident was capable of inflicting.

However, the only eldritch thing Mokou had been finding over the past couple of days was sheer silence as the bamboo forest which she called home failed to give up any clues. As minutes turned into hours, she honestly wished she could spend her whole day brawling with Kaguya, since that was infinitely more interesting than this dead-end womanhunt.

"This sucks," she commented. "Why can't I just be left alone to wander the forest in peace while she worries her pretty little head over such a fleeting shrine maiden? Can't she just be replaced if she got sucked into another dimension?"

It was true, at least from her perspective. Being a centuries-old immortal meant that the lifespans of normal humans were fleeting in comparison. In her mind, what was one lost shrine maiden if she was just going to die in a few years anyway? Which was why she didn't really form emotional attachments with people, because to her they might as well die tomorrow.

But, despite this, she knew it was still important to Yukari that Reimu be found, so she kept up her search for whatever clues she could find. She was about to give up for the day when, out of the blue...

"Shiningiliiiii!" A strange cry could be heard somewhere in the forest.

Mokou turned around. "Who goes there?!"

No response.

She decided to head in the direction of the strange cry. She didn't know if it could be a clue pointing to Reimu's disappearance or just some freak appearance by a large youkai or animal, but it was something to break the ice for her.

As she flew through the forest, racing towards whatever made the noise, she noticed burn marks and craters on the ground – not hers, but more unnatural-looking. She couldn't quite describe it, but the closest she could think of was that they seemed to have been created by a rocket of some fashion.

"What caused this?" she wondered. "Probably whatever made that noise."

She continued to race through the forest, eager to meet this mysterious creature head-on. In terms of battles, she often got cocky with anyone not named Kaguya, Reimu or Marisa, since because she couldn't die, she couldn't lose as long as she was able to fight.

But nothing could have prepared her for the sight that met her eyes when she emerged into a clearing.

She stopped. "What is THAT thing?" she gasped.

The thing was enormous; ten meters in height, one metric ton, and rooted into the ground like a plant. Its appearance gave of an air of Mokou's nemesis: long, greenish "hair" in a hime cut and a green-and-yellow "dress" but covered by these things was a small head with a small mouth and no visible eyes – at least, she thought no eyes, unless those dots in the "bangs" were its eyes – on top of a long, spindly neck. At either side were long structures resembling bamboo shoots.

She approached the figure and felt it; it was made of pure steel and was warm to the touch.

"What ARE you?" she asked. No response.

Mokou stood there, studying the strange, enormous object, wondering what it was. An assassin sent by Kaguya? It reminded her of her, so that was certainly possible. But it didn't seem to do anything to try and harm her.

She was just about to leave when the ground trembled. She looked around and saw the creature uproot itself, revealing exhaust ports at the end of its shoots and at the bottom of its body. The shoots floated in the air like disconnected arms, and the creature spoke again.

"Shiningli!" it exclaimed.

Mokou approached it again. "So it was you that caused the burn marks."

The creature didn't really respond. It just sat there looking straight ahead.

"Can you understand me at all?" she asked. "Raise an arm to let me know you can understand me."

The creature raised its left booster into the air, and then put it back down.

"Alright," Mokou said, "so you can understand me, yet you don't speak people language." This was awkward; Mokou was trying to figure out if this thing was one of Kaguya's assassins, but it could not speak human language even though it could understand her perfectly, meaning it could be given orders.

She decided on a little test to see what this creature's motives were.

"I've never seen anything like you in Gensokyo before," she said. "Can you somehow describe how you got here?"

The creature responded by turning towards a rock wall close to where they stood, and using its blaster arm's flaming exhaust to draw a rough picture of an ultra wormhole.

Mokou studied it. "Is this supposed to be a wormhole like the one in the sky the other day?"

The creature made a sound of acknowledgement. "Okay, so you're trying to say you came through it?"

The creature shook its head.

"You came through a different one before it?"

The creature nodded.

"So you're probably not one of Kaguya's assassins?"

The creature nodded.

"Alright, then that means you're trying to get home?"

The creature nodded once more.

"Hmm," Mokou wondered. "Well, I don't know if I can get you back home, but I can at least guide you out of the forest if you need out."

The creature shook its head again.

"No? Oh, you probably want to feed on nutrients from the ground."

The creature nodded once more.

"Well, I know a volcanic hot spot near the Youkai Mountain that's got rich soil. I could guide you there if you want."

The creature thought for a minute, then nodded again.

"Okay, it's settled. Now, to guide you out of the – "

The creature blasted off into the air straight up.

"...or we could just fly." Mokou spread her fiery wings and took off.

As they flew through the air, with Mokou guiding the creature all the way, the sight was witnessed from the human village.

A couple had come out to see the sight.

"What is that?" the wife asked.

"Looks like an enormous bamboo shoot flyin' through the sky!" the husband responded.

"What's a bamboo shoot doing flying through the air?"

"I dunno, probably a youkai or somethin'."

"I've never seen a bamboo youkai."

"I've seen stranger things in my seventy years of livin' here."

"And is that that Mokou girl leading it?"

"Yeah, I know, right? I thought she didn't like monsters, but here she is leading it somewhere."

"I wonder where..."

After landing at the hot spring, Mokou spoke to the creature.

"Alright, here we are," she said to it. "I'm sure you'll find good soil here, Ms... what are you, exactly?"

The creature mumbled, "...shi...lesteela..."

"Did I hear... Celesteea?" Mokou asked. The creature was silent.

"Alright, Celesteela it is. Have a good time here, Celesteela!"

The Celesteela rooted itself into the ground and entered an inactive state while Mokou went off to report her important findings to the sages.

* * *

"And this thing, you say, came out of the wormhole by its own admission?"

"That is correct," Mokou said. "However, I do not think it actually caused the wormhole to appear, but rather fell out of it or another one at some point."

"Hmm," Yukari wondered, "what do you mean by 'another one?' You imply there could have been or will be others?"

"I guess," Mokou responded. "I just wanted to help it out, so I led it to a nutrient-rich hotspot for it to rest so it didn't kill all the bamboo in the forest."

"I see," Yukari responded. "Do me a favor and keep an eye on it for us so it causes no harm."

"Will do," Mokou said, running out the door.

As she left, Yukari turned to Kasen and Okina.

"Bad news," she said to them, "there might be others."

"That wouldn't surprise me," Kasen said. "I've been hearing rumors of strange creatures appearing in Gensokyo ever since the wormhole appeared in the sky."

"I've been hearing rumors before that," Okina commented. "If they're true, that would indicate that this incident was planned out long in advance."

"That's a scary thought," Kasen said.

"Indeed," Yukari said.

"There's more," Okina added. "These creatures are allegedly semi-sentient; they can't speak our language, but they can understand us and receive commands. It's possible they might be minions, possibly spies."

"Or just things caught up in this mess, since going off of Mokou's description, this... Celesteela was just minding its own business when it was sucked through the wormhole and ended up here."

"We need to gather more evidence," Yukari said. "I'll go visit this Celesteela thing while you two stay here to receive leads from anyone else who comes in today."

"Alright," Okina said.

Yukari jumped into one of her gaps.

Kasen turned over to Okina.

"I never thought I'd ask this," she said, "but do you think Gensokyo's very existence is on the line here?"

"Possibly," Okina gulped. "It's impossible to know the motives of the figure causing this incident until they are apprehended."

"What if it's something we can't apprehend?" Kasen asked.

"Then, we will have to destroy it."

"What if we can't destroy it?"

Okina pondered this statement for a moment.

"Then, I do not know."


	16. Akala Landfall

The waves crashed against Heahea Beach, and in the distance, two surfers came in on their Mantines, the sun shining overhead and the light glistening off the rippling waters and white sands.

To Samson Oak, it was a sight he had grown to love.

"Looks like we got ourselves some wave-catchers," he told Big G.

"Master wave-catchers, too, it looks like!" said Big G.

Reimu was the first to wash up on the beach, with Hau not far behind. As she shook herself dry, she looked up at Oak.

"Alola!" he said with the proper Alolan greeting.

"Alola," said Reimu with short breath before doing the greeting back. By now, she had learned that Alola was both the name of the region and the most common greeting, and had gotten better at remembering to do it.

"So I heard from Big G you've got some excellent moves!" Oak said.

"Who are you?" Reimu asked.

"Oh," Oak said, "I'm sorry, I should've introduced myself. My name is Samson Oak. I don't look like it, but I'm a professor just like Kukui. I study Alolan forms of Pokémon."

"Alolan forms?" Reimu asked.

"Ah, so you must be new here. Well, many Pokémon from other regions have different morphs here in Alola in order to adapt to the climate and physical features. For example, Vulpix is normally a fire-type Pokémon, but here in Alola, the Vulpix that inhabit Mt. Lanakila are Ice-type instead!"

"Plus they're soooo cute!" A familiar voice came up from behind Oak. It was Lillie.

"Hey Lillie," Reimu said.

"How was the surf?"

"Awesome!" Reimu didn't hesitate to express her pleasure with surfing. It wasn't quite flying, but for her, it was the next best thing.

"That's the spirit!" Oak said to her.

He then pulled out a scorecard from his pocket with Reimu's name on it, and another with Hau's.

"Our Mantines actually have devices on them that track where they are and what sorts of tricks they performed, and give surfers a score based on that." He read Hau's first. "Hau, my boy, your score is... 26,054 points!"

"Awesome!" Hau said jumping up and down. "That's a new record for me!"

"You're almost as good as Boss on this course now!" he flipped over to Reimu next. "Now, Reimu, let's take a look. Alright, you score is..."

He paused.

"What is it?" Reimu asked.

"Am I reading this correctly?" Oak asked. He checked, and then double-checked, to make sure it was right. Then, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed someone.

"Boss?" he asked. After a few moments, he spoke again, "we've got a new champ."

"New champ?" Reimu asked.

Oak hung up the phone and told her "Reimu, somehow you did well enough to get... 62,345 points!"

Hau was aghast. Sure, Reimu did good, but she didn't do THAT good... did she?

"Nah, that can't be right, there must be a mistake!" he said.

"Nope, it's correct. Barrel Rolls, Starmie 720's, Primarina Twists and... how did you figure out Over the Gyarados without being told? This is simply amazing!"

"Uh, thank you?" Reimu said.

A man came down the steps onto the beach, walking towards the group.

"Is that her?" he asked.

"Yes, it's her!" Oak said to him.

The man walked up to Reimu. "Congratulations on your smashing record, cousin!"

"Thank you," Reimu said to him, "I was just doing my best."

"And this is only your first try?! That's amazing! You must have legendary surfing skills in the blood! I guess my records for the other courses aren't safe either!" He pulled out a pearl necklace from his pocket. "Here, my gratitude to your new record."

Reimu took the necklace and put it on. "It's pretty. Thank you."

"That's no ordinary necklace, that necklace is made out of some of the best Clamperl pearls out there! I was saving it for anyone that could beat my record, and that someone is you, sister!"

The casual way of speaking around here was starting to get to Reimu, but she just took it in stride. She shook his hand, then went to change back into her clothes before stepping off the beach and towards town.

The steps up from the beach landed near the ferry dock. As Reimu, Hau and Lillie walked up them, they were immediately met by a brown woman in short pink shorts and a tank top, and next to her was a green-haired girl with long twintails.

"Alola!" the woman said. "My name is Olivia, and I'm the kahuna of this island."

"And my name is Mallow! I'm one of the trial captains on this island!"

"Alola," Reimu said. "I'm Reimu. Reimu Hakurei."

Olivia's eyes widened. "Really?! I've heard all about you! The girl who came from the wormhole and proceeded to smash every trainer in her way?!"

"How do you know that?" Reimu asked.

"Ever since it happened, it's all anyone's been talking about! It's a real pleasure to meet you!" She extended her hand, and Reimu shook it and bowed in a proper Japanese fashion.

"Welcome to Akala Island! As you can see, it's a little different here. Different people, different landscape, different trials and, of course, different Pokémon."

"Bzzrt, which reminds me," Reimu's Rotom-Dex popped out, "I need to update real quick. Once I'm done, you can look at the Akala Dex!" A loading screen appeared on Rotom's face, signifying the update being installed.

Reimu looked back up at Olivia. "So I'm famous?"

"Oh, you have no idea! I'm sure you might even run into people here who already know who you are, even if it is a different island," Olivia said to her.

Reimu turned to Mallow. "So, Mallow, you say you're the trial captain here."

"A trial captain. There's three of us here on Akala that you need to beat!"

"Three?" Reimu said surprised. "There was only one on Melemele..."

"We're probably the most into the Island Challenge of any of the four island!" Mallow said with a smile. "Besides, going around the island is my favorite way of gathering fresh ingredients!"

"Mallow comes from a family of chefs," Olivia commented, "so cooking passion runs in the blood."

"Alright," Reimu said, "just a wild guess, but your trial is... Grass?"

"That's correct!" Mallow beamed. "How did you know?"

"I don't know, just a blind guess I suppose," Reimu shrugged. She actually figured it because these trial captains seemed to have a color scheme matching their type specialty.

"The others are a Water and Fire trial," Olivia said.

"Grass, Fire, Water... that's the same as the starter types!" Hau said.

"So, which will you do first?" Olivia asked the group.

"I think I do Grass!" Hau said jumping up and down. "I think Hedwig's Flying will give it a big advantage there!"

"Then I'll do Fire," Lillie said. "Adele has an advantage there, although asking her to go easy will be hard, given what happened back at the Grand Trial..."

Lillie went off on her own, while Hau followed Mallow back to the jungle where her trial took place.

Reimu looked back at Olivia. "Then I suppose I'll have to do the Water trial. Hopefully Magnemite can zap 'em into submission."

"That's the spirit!" Olivia said. "When you've done all three trials, just come to my jewelry store in Konikoni City and we can do your Grand Trial." At that point, she walked off towards a cave.

Reimu still wasn't sure what to make of this new island. On the surface, it was much the same, but for some reason it seemed ever so slightly different as well. She didn't know why, it just had that "air" of difference all around.

Perhaps if Melemele had no leads towards a way back home, then this island with its dimensional research lab might.

She thought about whether she should go to the lab, or if she should continue to the Water trial. On one hand, if she went to the lab, she could possibly find out some more about the Ultra Wormholes that brought her here to see if she could discover a way to use them to get back.

On the other hand, it wasn't like Burnet could just magically make a Wormhole appear, since that apparently happened at the will of the legendary Pokémon, which by extension meant that a legendary Pokémon may well have brought her here. Which, in turn, meant that her best bet of getting home might be to find the legendary Pokémon, however tall an order that was. And the best way to travel the islands to do that was to do the island challenge.

It seemed obvious to her. She had to find the legendary Pokémon, and the best way to do that was to travel the islands. The choice was clear: press on with the Island Challenge.

So she did.

The first thing she did was look around Heahea City, getting a feel for the landmarks. There was the Tidesong Hotel on the far side of town close to the beach; there was a waterfront with various stores for tourists and the ferry dock, and a road leading to a place which, according to signs, was called the "Hano Grand Resort." There were a lot of hotels in Alola, it seemed, evidence of the large amounts of sightseers and tourists who came through.

On a whim, she decided to get out the Rotom Dex and have it check social media to see just how popular she was. "Hey Rotom," she asked, "can you show me just how popular I am?"

"I sure can!" Rotom said before opening up PikaChat, which was essentially the Pokémon world equivalent to Twitter. All over there were posts and pictures beaming about the mysterious warrior from another dimension.

"OMG I SOOOO wanna meet her! #reimu"

"What's a #ultrawormhole?"

"Despite all the rumors covfefe"

"What's a #covfefe?"

"WW2 RISK AS #Illuminati DUMPS MYSTERIOUS GIRL INTO OUR REALM!"

"I want #reimu to come to my house if you know what I mean 3"

"#creepshow above me"

"This place is literally garbage."

"You're garbage."

"#NoU"

It was enough to make Reimu realize how quickly dumb gossip could go around.

She needed to do something about this, lest half the island instantly recognize her, that is if pictures of her existed.

So she approached the haircut place and went in, thinking that changing her hair could give her at least some deniability as to her true identity.

Entering the store, however, she realized that it might not be that simple.

"Hi there! How can I help – " the receptionist cut herself off upon realizing her customer. "Oh. My. Gosh. If it isn't Ms. Wormhole herself! Welcome!"

"Uh, hi..." Reimu said, uneasy about her newfound fame. "I'm here to get a cut and color."

"Alright, will do!" she said. "Let me show you to a seat and I'll go get Anna out of the back." Reimu sat in a chair while the hairdresser came out of the back.

"What can I do for you today?" she asked Reimu.

"I want to do something different with my hair," Reimu answered as she got her bow and hair tubes off and let her long, black hair fall down. "Something shorter, different color..."

"What kind of color?" the hairdresser asked.

Reimu didn't want something too crazy, so she said "brown."

"Brown I can do," Anna replied. "How about length? About the same, up to your shoulders, what?"

"How about a little above my shoulders?" Reimu said to her.

"Excellent," Anna answered. "And you want something different. What did you want? Waves, curls, bangs..."

"How about something between curly and wavy?" Reimu felt, why not? I've never had my hair done like this before and it might be fun to try something different.

"Okay, so you want brown, wavy-curly hair up a little bit from your shoulders, is that correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," Reimu replied.

"Alright, let's get started!"

Reimu and Anna shared some small talk while the latter worked on Reimu's hair.

"So are the rumors true? You come from another place entirely?" she asked.

Reimu answered "can't say I didn't."

Anna laughed. "You do realize everyone wants to meet you, right? I wonder if a haircut is really going to be enough to stop them!"

"It's the least I could do short of, I don't know, getting piercings," Reimu joked.

"You don't seem much like the punk type," Anna remarked.

"I'm not even familiar with 'punk' culture at all."

"Probably just as well."

"I assume so."

After a while, Anna finished up with the cut and color and showed Reimu the result. She didn't really seem much like Reimu anymore: short-medium brown hair with waves and curls in it. Reimu had some initial regrets, but soon learned to like it. After all, she was doing this to experiment, and she could grow it out later if she wanted her old hairstyle back.

"I think you did a good job," Reimu remarked. She paid and tipped the hairdresser before leaving.

"Thank you for coming in!" she said.

After visiting the hairdresser, Reimu stopped by the Pokémon Center to stock up on items before heading towards Route 4, which she was told was a shortcut to Lana's trial grounds. Little did she know, however, that she had a follower.

Observing Reimu from behind some trash in a back alley was a Riolu. He sensed something within Reimu, and quickly darted between alleys and bushes to avoid being seen. Reimu didn't notice, because Rotom was busy talking her ear off.

"I think the new haircut suitzzz you!" it told her.

"Thanks," Reimu responded.

"Y'know, there are plenty of unique Pokémon here on Akala. You think you could catch them all?"

Reimu wasn't sure. She only caught what she felt she needed, since she felt taking an animal out of its habitat and putting it in a box wasn't particularly nice, but she had already registered over 70 species, so she was onto something.

"I think I'll try and register what I can," she said.

"That'zz the spirit!" Rotom replied.

As she approached the Tidesong Hotel, Reimu saw two people, one guy wearing a yellow tourist shirt and one girl with purple hair wearing a white tank top.

"Hey there, trainer!" the guy said.

Reimu realized he was talking to her, so she politely responded "Alola!"

"Aha, a true Alolan!" he said. "Well, come over here, I want to show you something!"

Reimu went over to them, confident in her battling abilities if they wanted to fight. As she did, they introduced themselves.

"My name is Dexio," the guy said.

"And I'm Sina," the girl said. "And you must be... Reimu?"

Crap, the haircut wasn't working as well as she'd hoped.

"Uh, yeah," Reimu said.

"I could tell by the way you dressed," Sina told her.

"And the way you talk," Dexio said.

"Who are you?" Reimu asked.

"We're assistants to Professor Sycamore in Lumiose City back in Kalos. We're here in Alola on vacation, but also to research a unique Pokémon called Zygarde."

"Zygarde?" Reimu said, curious.

"Zygarde is an interesting Pokémon that lives here in Alola," Dexio commented. "Legend has it it came here from its native Kalos to aid the Tapu in fighting off Necrozma, and has rested here ever since anticipating its return. It's unique in that it can separate itself into cells and cores, and then form itself back up when trouble arises."

Dexio then produced a strange green-and-black object from his satchel.

"This is a Zygarde Cube. It was made by Sycamore himself. With this, you can absorb cells and cores as you go along, and maybe add Zygarde to your team! It's already got some cells in it; if you can find a core you can get the cells to form around it and have it take shape!"

Reimu took the cube and said "um, thanks."

"Don't mention it!" Dexio said.

Sina then walked up to Reimu and asked, "since you're here, would you like to battle?"

Reimu couldn't resist the urge for a high-class bout, and in no time flat Sasha was already outside of his Pokéball itching for a fight. Unfortunately for Reimu, Sina's Ice-types were no match for her two Pokémon, and the battle was over before it really got going.

After recalling her Glaceon, Sina remarked "well, I guess I know better now than to pick fights with you."

"When you only use Ice-types," said Reimu, "you can expect nothing less than a complete beating."

Reimu stuffed the cube inside her bag and headed off towards Route 4, after Sina and Dexio thanked her for her time.

The Riolu had watched the fight from inside a trash can and was impressed by her battling style. It resigned to continue shadowing her, jumping out of the can and moving between some more bushes towards Route 4.

A new island meant new Pokémon to register in the Dex, and Reimu was keenly aware of the sorts of different species found here that weren't on Melemele. In particular, she was interested in finding an Eevee. Sina had mentioned that Glaceon evolved from one, but that Eevee could in fact evolve into many different "Eeveelutions" based on the circumstances. Oh, and it was also really cute. Unfortunately, Eevee were elusive, and Reimu wasn't having much luck finding one amid all the Pikipek and Lillipup, and nobody on the route used one, so she was left unable to register it, let alone catch it.

What she did catch sight of, however, was a sign announcing the presence of "Akala Recreational Day Camp." She wasn't sure what a "Day Camp" was, but she decided to check it out anyway just to see if there were any trainers there worth battling.

"This should be interesting!" Rotom said to Reimu.

"You really think so?" Reimu asked. "Well, I guess we'll have to see," she said as she went down the path.

As she came down the path, it opened up to a small valley where all sorts of action was going on, though mostly involving kids. She guessed that this place was a place where parents could drop off their children and have them partake in outdoor activities, meaning that there would likely be few strong trainers here. Still, she decided to look around to see if there were strong trainers to be had. And even if there weren't, she always did have a thing with children.

She looked around, and noticed an older girl teaching kids archery. This reminded her of Eirin's archery, so she went over to check it out.

"And so you draw the arrow back like this," Selene said to the students, "hold it tightly while aiming while looking down the sight, and then release to shoot."

The students, all aged 4-12, drew their bows as she showed them, and then shot at their targets on the big board. One kid got a bulls-eye.

"Excellent, Terry," she said, getting out a piece of candy like she did for perfect shots such as his.

Reimu approached the group as they went to go get their arrows for a second round, and Selene noticed her.

"Howdy, trainer," she said greeting her with the Alola gesture. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I noticed all the activity and so I thought I'd drop in looking for battles," Reimu said truthfully.

"Well," Selene said, "the battling club's over there if you want to go join them."

"Alright, thanks," Reimu said.

As she went off, Selene stopped her.

"Waaait a second... you're that Reimu girl, aren't you?"

Drats. That's the second time today the haircut failed.

"What makes you think that?" Reimu asked. "What if I'm an imposter?"

"I don't think so. I've heard about you and your style. It's unmistakable."

Reimu confessed, "alright, fine, I am Reimu."

Selene stuck out her hand. "My name's Selene. I help out here at the day camp." She turned to the kids. "Everyone, Reimu's here if you want to meet her!"

All of a sudden, a small horde of kids was bunched up against her, wanting to know who she was, what her tales her, some wanting to see her Pokémon...

"Hey miss, can I see your Pokémon?"

"Wow, are you really from another dimension?!"

"I've heard all about you!"

"I named my dolly after you!"

"Reimu huh? Cool."

"My mom read all about you!"

Rotom turned to Reimu. "Seems you're really popular, you clever thing!"

I don't want to be popular, Reimu thought, but it was too late. Right now, she basically had to sell out.

She sent out her Pokémon, and kids from the battling club came over to challenger her. Naturally, all of them were crushed, but they didn't care, she was a celebrity. She even gave out a few autographs for the children's sake.

After the crowd had started to scatter, Reimu turned back over to Selene.

"Phew, that was exhausting," Reimu said. "Kids don't know what personal space is, I'm surprised I even like them as much as I do."

"Well," Selene said, "you get 'em going, they turn into little balls of fire, yes they do."

"Indeed," Reimu said, "but I've never seen kids that vigorous."

"You've gotta remember," Selene replied, "here in Alola it's nice all year round, so kids get outside a lot and are full of energy."

"I suppose that's true," Reimu said. "Back home, it gets very cold in winter, and very hot and muggy in summer, so people often spend their whole days indoors. Here, though, it's practically paradise. You're lucky to have what you have."

Selene responded, "well, I mean, we do get a rainy season in winter, lots of thunder and lighting, but even in winter there's enough nice days to go out and enjoy some fresh air."

"I see," Reimu said.

Selene looked around a bit, then asked "hey, have you met my brother by any chance? Elio?"

"Elio?" Reimu said. "Oh, you mean that mail person on the other island?"

"Yeah, him," Selene answered. "We're identical twins. Er, well, I guess not exactly 'identical,' but we came from the same egg and all that. Pretty crazy, huh?"

"Yeah," Reimu said. "That is crazy." Reimu was vaguely aware about human embryos from Eirin talking about it, but she was surprised it appeared to be common knowledge here. Then again, she reckoned, there were more doctors here that knew that sort of thing, and they probably taught it in schools.

Reimu started to walk off. "Well," she said, "it was nice talking to you. I need to get on with my Island Challenge."

"Alright," Selene waved. "Good luck!"

"Thanks," Reimu replied.

Just outside the day camp was Paniola Town, where Hau said on his phone he and Lillie wanted to meet Reimu briefly before they broke off and did their respective trials.

Approaching the town, Reimu could tell that it was a farming community, with men and women in overalls and big hats driving Tauros and Miltank through fields and large groves of pineapple trees, soybeans and assorted berries being irrigated by large, overhead machines. She was still amazed how even something as basic as farming could be so mechanized, advanced and large-scale.

As she approached town, she saw that it had a rustic appearance, with dirt roads criss-crossing throughout the old-Western style facades and beat-up trucks parked alongside, with some Mudsdales and foreign Ponytas and Rapidashes tied to racks while their owners were inside doing their business. Over the town loomed the Wela Volcano, which provided the town with its rich soils and powered the hot springs which made the town famous among beauty-seekers. All around, the town was buzzing with activity, as trainers did battle, traded, talked and otherwise interacted with the locals. It was a close-knit community.

Standing at the intersection between the general store and the Pokémon Center was Hau, who was clearly anticipating Reimu's arrival.

"Howdy there, pardner!" he said with a mock Western accent. "Y'all here for an old-fashioned Western showdown?"

"Western what?" Reimu asked.

Hau slumped, "oh, right, you probably don't know what I'm getting at."

Reimu didn't hesitate to send out Sasha, asking Hau "are you asking for trouble, mister?"

Hau didn't hesitate to send Hedwig, at his side, out to meet the threat. "You bet I am!" he exclaimed.

Hau ordered Hedwig to shower Sasha in blade quills, but Sasha's fiery passion literally burned through them as a single Fire Fang felled the bird, a flurry of slashes cut up Crabrawler, and a bunch of Bites did in Pikachu, all while Reimu commanded the cat with masterful oversight and Sasha danced through danger, kicking challenge to the curb and adopting a rhythm that Hau just couldn't match. At the end of it all, Sasha had barely a scratch on him while Hau's Pokémon were forced to concede. The fight was so eye-catching, it caught the attention of the masses as a crowd gathered to watch the show.

As she recalled Sasha, Reimu commented "you're too reliant on brute force to get what you want. I've battled for long enough to know that confusion, strategy and finesse are what you want to use if you want to win. I've won many battles against youkai and goddesses because of that."

Hau slumped. "Well I've never fought a youkai or a goddess so I wouldn't know."

Reimu chuckled, "of course you wouldn't." They healed up at the Pokémon Center before moving on to the ranch.

The ranch beyond Paniola Town was vast, full of trainers hoping to capture something as well as breeders raising baby Pokémon. The tall grass all throughout was thick enough to conceal varmints, but these were usually dealt with a small cadre of trained Stoutland and Torracat.

As Hau and Reimu walked on, they were met by Lillie and Mallow standing in the middle of the path.

"Alola!" Mallow said. "Good afternoon! Glad you could make it to the ranch!"

Lillie stepped forward. "Mallow and I were just here to get some Moomoo Milk from the Miltank here at the ranch."

"Right!" Mallow exclaimed, "because Moomoo Milk is some of the best there is for making pizza! And I just so happen to be perfecting an artisan thin-crust pizza for a get-together tonight!"

Mallow led the group over to one side of the ranch where the Miltank farmers were, all while Reimu looked around some more with burning curiosity.

"I've never seen a farm this large," Reimu said to Mallow. "Back at home, there are a lot of farmers, of course, but I've never seen an operation this big, this mechanized..."

"Well, it does produce most of Alola's food, so of course it'd be big!" Mallow said back.

They moseyed on into the fenced area where Miltank and Tauros were kept, and were shown to a spot where some Miltank were drinking out of a water trough. Mallow had the group stand a short ways back while she explained her plan.

"Now then, there are a couple steps you have to take when milking a Miltank. One of the most important is to not spook them." She looked over her shoulder to look at the Miltanks. "They may not look it, but they're actually pretty strong and can knock a full-grown man over like that," she snapped her fingers, "if they're spooked. So you wanna get down to their level and calmly beckon to them."

She did exactly that, kneeling down and calling one of the Miltanks over. The Miltank looked around, then happily mooed as it skipped over to her.

Mallow held her hand out and let it sniff it. "Next, you want the Miltank to feel safe around you. I always hold my hand out like this to let it get familiar with me, then I gently pet its head." She patted the cow's head softly, and it mooed back in content.

"Once you get it to trust you, then you put on some gloves," she took out some plastic gloves and put them on," bring out your bucket," she got her bucket around, "and gently squeeze one of its udders like so." She reached for a teat and gently squeezed it, causing milk to come out and start filling the bucket. "A typical Miltank can produce a bucket or two's worth a day, moreso if they currently have a kid they're raising."

This all was very interesting to Reimu, who had never really worked around cattle before, but she could tell Mallow was a country girl who had been doing this for quite some time.

"You're very good at this!" she said.

"Thanks!" Mallow replied. "Now, why don't you try?"

Reimu was taken aback. Me?, she thought. She wasn't really sure she had the touch to do it, but then again, she was famous and it would look bad if she turned it down.

Carefully, Reimu stepped up and put on the gloves Mallow handed to her. She then knelt down to the Miltank, who was staring at her with some level of curiosity.

"Uh... hi?" she said awkwardly. The Miltank continued to scrutinize her as she held out her hand. Slowly but surely, it sniffed it, then stood back up once it was sure Reimu was alright.

Next, Reimu gently reached her hand out again to pet its head. Once again, it lowered its head so that she could do this. She started slowly, then petted some more once she established that it wasn't going to try and hit her or anything. And again, she earned its trust, and it mooed in contentment.

"You're doing good so far!" Mallow said.

"Thanks," Reimu replied. Finally, she got the bucket, and with some trepidation, reached for a teat and began to squeeze it, causing milk to fall into the bucket. As she did this, she continued petting the Miltank just to keep it calm enough for her to work on the task at hand.

In just a short while, the bucket was completely full.

She got up, bucket in hand, and handed it off to Mallow.

"Wow, Reimu," she beamed, "you're a natural at this! Most people tend to falter on their first try, but you did it perfectly!"

"It wasn't hard," Reimu said, "just a little bit daunting." She shuffled awkwardly around.

Hau jumped up and down. "Can I try?"

Mallow said to him "sure you ca – "

"Everybody, there's a Tauros on the loose!" a voice cried out.

"A Tauros?" Lillie said nervously.

They looked around, only for Lillie to spot the animal galloping right towards them.

"Oh, uh, AAAHHHH!" She screamed as she took cover.

The Tauros stopped in front out of the group and cried out. Mallow stood up confidently.

"Alright guys, just calm down!" she said authoritatively. "Just keep your calm and don't do anything to get it riled up. Lillie, just calmly back away."

Lillie backed away slowly as the Tauros turned towards Hau and cried out again.

"Uhhhh..." Hau was nervous and standing back a bit, before realizing he had a defense.

He reached for his Pokéball and did not hesitate to send out Hedwig.

"Stand your ground, Hedwig!" he commanded. The bird just stood there, sizing up Tauros and keeping it from harming its master.

However, the Tauros didn't do anything.

"Alright, alright, I got it!" a farmer came over to get the animal. "No battling inside the fence, ya' hear?"

"Sorry sir," Hau said, "I was just trying to stay safe."

"I know ya' are. That one's been trouble since we got 'im in a swap a couple weeks ago. Always runnin' away when we try to corral 'im."

"He seems calm right now..." Reimu commented.

"Ya gotta be careful around those things," the farmer told her. "One false move and – "

The Tauros moved closer to Hau and lowered its head.

"Huh?" the farmer said turning to Hau.

"What's it doing?" Hau asked nervously.

The farmer studied the Tauros and noticed that it wasn't all that angry, judging by its tail movements. He wondered if it wanted something from Hau for some reason.

"I say," he said out, "I think it wants some affection from you."

"What?" Hau turned towards him.

"You're a trainer, you can handle this if things go wrong, and I'm right here to corral it if it gets outta hand."

"Be careful, Hau," Lillie cautioned.

Hau slowly walk forward, up to the Tauros, and carefully reached his hand out.

"Easy..." he said nervously.

He reached towards the Tauros's snout, and the Tauros lowered its head to let him rub it, which he did for a few seconds.

"There, there, I'm not going to hurt you," Hau said calmly.

After he withdrew his hand, the Tauros looked up and cried out in contentment.

"I think he likes you," the farmer said.

"Thanks," Hau said back to him.

"Now try grabbing it by the horns."

Hau drew back. "Should I really do that?"

"Go on," the farmer told him, "if he trusts you, they love that sort of thing!"

Hau, still unsure, carefully reached out again and grasped the Tauros by the horns. In response, it moved its head around to and fro, as if trying to buck off Hau. So Hau let go, only for it to moo in content again. So he grabbed it again, and it did the same thing: bob its head up and down, and moo afterwards.

"Okay, I think I've earned its trust," Hau said.

"That's good!" the farmer told him.

"Now what?" Hau asked.

"Well, he seems calm now," the farmer told him. "I'll just corral 'im back where he goes, and you can be on your way."

"Alright," Hau said to him. He began to walk off, but the Tauros followed him. Hau turned around, and this time it mooed a little more fiercely.

"Oh? He's not done with you?" the farmer said.

"Apparently not," Reimu smirked. "Maybe it wants to go with you?"

"With me?" Hau asked. "Like on my Island Challenge?"

"Why not?" Reimu said. "Maybe it's restless because it wants to go do bigger and better things than be holed up on a farm all day. And perhaps it sees something in you, and that's why it wants to go with you."

"Y'know," the farmer said, "she might be right. He always seems eager for battles, and we did get extra in that trade. So I'd say it's alright by me if you go ahead and catch it."

Hau stammered back. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," the farmer replied.

Hau looked back at the Tauros, who was still looking at him with anticipation. Nervously, he reached into his bag, pulled a spare Pokéball out of it, and tossed it at the bull.

Three shakes, and a click. Caught.

"It... it didn't even resist..." Hau said confused.

"Then I guess he had his heart set on having you as his trainer!" the farmer said.

"But..." Hau said, "it's not like... it just saw me and... why do you think that?"

"Well," Reimu said, "I'm no psychic, but I do have the ability to sense the auras of living things. It's not an ability I call upon a whole lot, to be honest, but it's been buzzing ever since I got here, because the auras of Pokémon are just so intriguing. It's almost as if they actively search for strong partners and jump on what they feel is the perfect opportunity. Not just trainers, but each other as well; I've rarely seen a truly solitary Pokémon ever since I arrived. And that Tauros... well, it was doing just that. It was searching for what it felt was the perfect partner, and it saw that in you."

That was very confusing for Hau, but he just acknowledged it anyway. "I... guess that makes sense?" Lillie wasn't quite sure what to make of it either. Mallow, on the other hand, was thoroughly impressed by Reimu's ability.

"Y'all okay?" a female voice called out.

"We're a-ok," Mallow chirped.

A girl in overalls and a cowboy hat came over to the group. "I saw all the commotion, and I came over to check. Looks like one of you bagged one of our Tauros?"

"I let him do it," the farmer replied. "That thing was starting to get outta hand, I think it's good if we just left him in the care of a trainer."

"I see," the girl said.

She looked at the group. "Oh, I'm sorry, I should probably introduce myself. My name's Allie, and I'm one of the breeders here on the ranch."

"Nice to meet you," Reimu said to her. "I'm... er..."

"This is Reimu," Hau beamed, "and this is Lillie." Lillie blushed. "And my name's Hau."

"Reimu, huh? I've heard about you from some friends of mine!" Allie said. "Although they said you had straight black hair. Did you change it?"

"I did," Reimu said sheepishly. "I wanted to avoid attention, but it isn't working."

"Not much for the spotlight, huh?" Allie chuckled.

"I fell out of a wormhole," Reimu said. "Of course I probably don't want to be in the spotlight too much!"

Allie chuckled again. "Well, I see you're all trial-goers. C'mon, I have something to show you." She led the group, including Mallow, towards a hay truck and let them sit in the bed of it, which was still lined with bunches of hay and straw for the animals.

"This'll take you to the nursery quick as a hiccup, but hold on tight," she said, getting into the cab and turning on the ignition.

As they crawled into the back, the rumble of the truck's engine roaring to life caused the loose bits of hay to scatter about and nearly threw Lillie off her balance. Reimu took her hand to steady her.

"Thanks," she smiled while looking up.

"Don't mention it," Reimu said. Just knowing Reimu was there was enough to empower Lillie, and she quickly got a hold of herself and held onto the side as the truck started moving.

Within a few minutes, they were on the far side of the ranch, towards Route 6 and right outside the nursery.

"This is the nursery," Allie told them as they climbed off of the truck. "This is where we breed Pokémon in captivity and allow trainers to adopt them. Almost all starter Pokémon here in Alola were bred right here at this ranch. Sometimes, we end up with extra and give them to trial-goers, and as it just so happens we have exactly three eggs today, one for each of you."

"Eggs?" Reimu asked.

"All Pokémon, no matter the species, hatch from eggs. Nobody's ever actually seen an egg be produced; it's as if they come out of thin air. Another thing is that the Pokémon being bred don't have to be the same kind, since they can breed as long as they're both in the same of what we call 'egg groups.' So for example, two reptilian Pokémon can breed since they're both in the Dragon group. But that's probably more than you care to know."

Hau spoke up, "oh, so that explains that one time when a Skitty and a Wailord – "

"We don't talk about that incident," Allie interjected while blushing.

"What?" Reimu asked.

Lillie blushed, "it's, um, better if you didn't know the details."

"I'll take your word for it," Reimu said as they were led inside. She wasn't sure what a Skitty or a Wailord were, but judging by their names, it was safe for Reimu to assume she was probably better off not knowing the specifics of whatever went down. Especially if the Skitty was the mother.

Inside the nursery, Allie introduced the three to her sisters Susan and Lynn.

"Hi there!" Susan spoke up. "I'm the nursery lady. I give out eggs to trial-goers such as you three!"

"And I'm the Hidden Power checker!" Lynn announced.

Reimu walked up to Susan. "I heard you have Pokémon eggs for each of us?"

"Sure do!" Susan said to her. She went into the back and fetched exactly three eggs, each one inside a tubular capsule keeping them warm.

"These were laid earlier today," Susan told them. "So it might be a little while before they hatch." She put the incubators out onto the table. "Since you're famous, Reimu, I'll give you first pick."

Reimu looked at the eggs. One was orange with black stripes, another was a brown with a single cream stripe and the third bright blue with snow flake designs on it.

"Does it make a difference?" She asked. "Do these have different species in them?"

"That would be correct," Susan told her.

"Well, alright," Reimu said back. She took the brown egg and put it into her bag.

Lillie latched onto the blue egg next. "This one's mine!" she cried out. As she took hold of it, she held onto it lovingly before placing it into her bag.

"Well, gosh," Hau said sheepishly. "I guess that leaves this one for me." He took the orange egg for himself.

"Please take good care of them!" Susan beamed.

Reimu walked over to Lynn next. "Now, you said something about 'Hidden Power?'"

"Oh, yes, Hidden Power!" she responded. "Well, believe it or not, each Pokémon is capable of a special power that can only be unlocked with this move." She then proceeded to hand over a TM. "Practically any Pokémon can learn it. What makes it special is that the damage it does changes depending on which Pokémon uses it."

"Interesting," Reimu said, "but how do we know what type it is?"

"I have a hidden power too," Lynn told her. "I can tell a Pokémon's Hidden Power just by looking at it."

"Uh-huh." Reimu wasn't sure whether to believe her or not, but decided to humor her. After all, she'd seen a number of strange things in this world already, and for all she knew three-headed dragons existed in this world too.

Still, wanting to humor her, she presented Sasha in front of Lynn and had her examine him. After a good long while, she responded, "if Sasha was to learn Hidden Power, it's type would be Electric."

"Interesting fact to know," Reimu said to her. Hau was next, eager to see what Hedwig would get. In this case, Ground.

"Somewhat ironic for a Flying-type, don't you think?" Lynn remarked.

"Yeah, and you know what?" Hau replied, "it's good against Sasha's Fire, whose Electric is good against Adele's Water!"

"It's as if the type chart of your starters goes backwards with their Hidden Powers!" Lynn said. Finally, they were able to convince Lillie to present Adele to her and have her judged. The results, however, were not what anyone was expecting.

"Hmm, now this is intriguing," Lynn said. "If I'm not mistaken, Adele's Hidden Power would be... Dark."

"What's so special about Dark?" Reimu asked. "From what I've gathered, Dark-type Pokémon and moves are all over the place."

"That's true," Lynn explained, "but Dark is one of the rarest Hidden Powers there is. Generally, only the strongest Pokémon possess it. No one really knows why, but some think it's because having so much potential causes certain Pokémon to become arrogant about their power, and this warps their Hidden Power. I've worked with competition breeders for over ten years and nearly half of all the Pokémon specially bred for combat prowess that pass through my hands have it. Keep in mind, these competition Pokémon make up almost all known cases of Dark-type Hidden Powers and they're almost never seen in the wild. It's especially unusual for a starter Pokémon, which are supposed to be bred to be easy to raise and train, to have it, and yet that seems to be the case with Adele."

Lillie blushed. "Well," she said, "she's quite the fighter when she wants to be..."

"I would suggest keeping her under a close eye," Lynn told Lillie. "Dark Hidden Power Pokémon can be quite unruly under novice trainers." Lillie took her advice, and the three took their eggs outside, where Mallow was waiting for them.

"Well," she said to them, "look what we got here: eggs!"

"The nursery lady gave them to us," Lillie replied.

"Well, I'm sure you'll take good care of them! Now c'mon, I want you show you all something!"

Without hesitation, they went north along the route to the Pokémon Center just east of Brooklet Hill. It was getting late, so they decided to stay the night there. They all told stories around the campfire, although it was mostly just more of Reimu recounting her adventures to Mallow and the others, who decided she probably had more interesting yarns to weave than any of them.

"So we opened up this burlap sack with an occult ball inside of it, and Mokou was all like 'okay, it's worth it,' before we all began beating the snot out of each other."

Hau emptied the last can of ginger ale before saying "wow, seems like you people will find any excuse to get into a fight."

"Well," Reimu said, "let's just say we call them 'Gensokyan Handshakes." Everyone burst out laughing, with ginger ale coming out of Hau's nose. "Anyway, that's when Sumireko shows up and explains how she used them to punch a hole in the barrier and get into Gensokyo."

"And?" Mallow egged her on.

"Yukari told me she gapped her into someplace called Guantanamo Bay for a few minutes, which was enough to get her to help us get rid of the occult balls and return her to the outside. But then she discovered she could come back to Gensokyo in her dreams, and ever since then she's been bugging me for beer. Speaking of which, I tried to buy some earlier, but I learned you have to be 21 to buy alcohol here, what's up with that?"

"Eh, probably just as well," Hau said in an aside.

This storytelling went on long into the night. Eventually, they all just kind of passed out rather than really going to bed, the flame flickering out on its own after a while. Overhead, the stars and constellations sparkled in the clear sky above, telling their own stories of Alolan lore and history.

And a small, blue Riolu who watched them tell stories was curled up in the grass just beyond the campground, sleeping.


	17. The Red Gyarados

The red rays of the sun filtered through the cloud cover, illuminating the backside of the Wela Volcano and giving it a black silhouette with a stark, crimson outline. All around, wild Pokémon roused from their slumber, the white sounds of bugs and frogs chirping giving way to bird cheeps and grunts and growls. The sun's rays touched the morning dew accumulated on the grass, causing it to evaporate and bring with it the aromatic scent of plants and soil into the brisk morning air.

Reimu was still sound asleep in her sleeping bag, dreaming dreams of home and normalcy. Then, a pleasant aroma entered her nose. This was enough to rouse the still half-asleep girl out from under the covers, out of the tent, and hazily out into the open until...

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Mallow shouted.

"WAAH!" Reimu exclaimed as she was shaken awake. She looked around. Yep, still in Alola. Then she looked in front of her to see Mallow cooking some pancakes on a flat-iron skillet.

"I see you were woken up by the scent of my whole-grain flapjacks!" Mallow said cheerfully.

"I, uh, guess so," Reimu stammered.

It took a few minutes for the flapjacks to fully cook, at which point Mallow served Reimu up a couple and gave her some Payapa syrup to drizzle over them.

"This is awfully sweet syrup," Reimu commented as she munched down on the pancakes.

"It's my own recipe," Mallow told her. "Payapa berries can make themselves appetizing to whoever sees them, and that even carries on to their mush. Some say they have psychic powers that let them do this. Then I mix it with pure cane sugar, natural tree sap, a special mix of herbs and spices, and just enough salt to counter the payapa's natural tartness."

"Sounds like an awful lot of work for syrup," Reimu said with her mouth full. "Still a good job, though."

By that time Hau and Lillie roused from their sleeping bags and joined the morning feast. Reimu quickly found out that pancakes were Hau's second favorite food behind malasadas, and even his Pikachu was having a field day chowing down. Pretty soon, there was no pancake batter left, and Hau and Pikachu had syrup and bread crumbs all over their face!

"Mmm-mmm! That was good!" Hau said cheekily. Lillie, of course, was less than impressed, having only gotten one pancake the whole time. "Hau, don't you know you're going to get fat if you eat too many sweets?" she pouted. Reimu just couldn't believe how a small boy could pack away 1200 calories without breaking a sweat, or how his Pikachu even liked pancakes. Fortunately for Hau, Mallow was just happy that he appreciated her cooking enough to make her run out of food.

The four made their way out of the Pokémon Center campground, talking the whole way about their trials, before Mallow made a proposal.

"I need to head back to by trial site," Mallow said, "I'm expecting today to be busy. Would you all like to come with?"

Hau jumped forward. "I would love to!" he smiled. "I can't wait to pass my next trial!"

Mallow looked at Lillie next. "How about you, Lillie?"

Lillie blushed. "Oh, uh, I was actually thinking about doing the Fire trial over there," she said pointing at the volcano. "Only because I think Adele will do well there..."

Reimu was up next. She looked behind her and saw a sign pointing towards a trial. "I suppose I'll do the one over there," she said.

"Really?" Mallow said in surprise. "That's Lana's trial. Are you sure you want to take Sasha in there?"

"I've got Magnemite," Reimu told her. "I think I'll be okay. And I have to do it anyway, right?"

"Well, you do have a good point," Mallow commented. She walked off with Hau. "Good luck! I look forward to you doing my trial, too!"

As the two walked off, Reimu had a brief word with Lillie.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay on your own?" Reimu asked her. "If those Team Skull people really are after Nebby?"

"I'll be fine," Lillie said steadfastly. "I have Adele, Gastly and Bagon at my side, I could fight them off if I want to!"

Reimu thought about it, then came up with something. She reached into her bag and got out the Zygarde cube. "I suppose if this thing really can summon a powerful Pokémon, then you'll need all the help you can get." She gave it to Lillie, who grasped it with both hands.

She looked up at Reimu. "Um... thanks?" she said confused. "I appreciate the help, but, you still only have two Pokémon. Are you sure you'll be okay with only two and an egg?"

"If I see a strong Pokémon, I'll add it to my team," she said. "I have complete faith in my partners to do the fighting I expect of them. And you should, too."

Lillie smiled softly. "Thanks." She looked away for a second, then looked back at Reimu. The girl was very brave, very headstrong. Everything Lillie wanted to be to prove she was not a child.

Lillie walked off into the distance, toward the volcano, leaving Reimu on her own, with the water trial being the only way forward.

She started down the path to Brooklet Hill without hesitation.

* * *

The hill was dotted with several cascading pools of sparkling water, fed by rainwater and springs within the rocky, moss-covered basalt rock faces.

As she made her way down towards the shore, she came to a bridge. On the other side was a short girl with blue hair and blue, bell-bottom pants. Reimu crossed the bridge, and met with the girl.

"Good morning," Reimu said to her.

"Welcome," the girl said. "I'm Lana, and I'm the trial captain here on Brooklett Hill. I presume you're here for your island challenge?"

"Why else would I be?" Reimu said, flashing her trial emblem.

Lana chuckled. "Well, then, I suppose you could help me with a mystery."

"Hmm? Mystery?" Reimu asked, puzzled.

"Look over there," Lana said pointing down towards the larger pools down towards the shore. "It seems the Wishiwashi are a bit restless today. Perhaps you could see what is stressing them out?"

"I don't know what that means, but I suppose I could help you out," Reimu replied.

Lana smiled. "Splendid. Come with me."

Reimu did as she was asked and followed the girl down the hill to one of the pools. This pool was large and impeded Reimu's progress down the hill.

Lana pointed to a dark spot in the middle of the pool. "You see that?"

Reimu had to squint a bit in order to see what Lana was pointing out, but eventually she did see it. "Yeah, I kinda do."

"That is a group of Wishiwashi. They've been like that since dawn. Normally, they spread out throughout the pool, but they've been bunching up much more than normal. I was wondering if you could go see what's up."

"They could just be bunching up away from those fishermen over there," Reimu said pointing at some of the fishermen on the shore of the pool.

"Mmm, I don't think that's what it is," Lana said to her shaking her head. "I feel like there's something in the water."

"What do you want me to do, strip down and dive in after them?" Reimu said jokingly.

Lana blushed. "Er, no, that's not it!"

"I was kidding," Reimu smiled.

Lana reached her hand out. "Do you mind if I see your Ride Pager for just a moment?"

Reimu wasn't sure what this girl wanted to do with it, but she did as asked. Lana messed around with the pager for a few moments before handing it back over.

"I just updated your pager to call Lapras whenever you need to."

"Lapras?" Reimu asked.

"Yes, Lapras," Lana responded. "You can use it to cross large bodies of water, and you can even fish from its back!" She looked at Reimu again for a second, before saying "but it doesn't look like you have a fishing rod." She went over to some rocks and pulled out a spare, then gave it to Reimu.

"Um, thanks?" Reimu said confused. Lana held back a small chuckle.

"I'm assuming you know how to fish, right?" she asked Reimu.

"Of course," Reimu said. "I fish all the time at home. It's how I get a lot of my food, actually."

"Then I guess there's not much I need to tell you," she said. "I do want to say, however, that if you find a bubbling spot by some rocks, you're more likely to hook something good if you fish there."

"I'll keep that in mind," Reimu said back, before summoning the Lapras to start investigating the Wishiwashi. She was immediately taken aback at its size, four meters tall at the head. It looked down at her with a reassuring look on its face, before lowering its shell so she could climb up onto the saddle strapped to it.

"Whoa, boy!" Reimu said as the shell shook slightly. Eventually, she was able to get herself fully situated, and using the reigns was able to get the Lapras to head off toward the school of Wishiwashi near the center of the pool. As she did, she noticed the previously calm, sunny weather had shifted to overcast. She could also feel the air start to get heavier as the humidity rose.

As she drifted closer toward the middle of the pool where the Wishiwashi were congregating, she could see them rushing down towards the waterfall on the far side of the pool. I must be scaring them, she thought, which made sense given she was riding on the back of a rather large plesiosaur combined with the fact that the Wishiwashi were apparently spooked.

She decided to have Rotom look up an entry on Wishiwashi, just to see what she was getting herself into with these fish Pokémon.

_Wishiwashi, the Small Fry Pokémon. These small fish Pokémon are among the weakest there are, so they tend to stick together in schools. They use their gleaming eyes to attract others of their kind, and if this happens, one would be well-advised to vacate the area immediately._

**Notice: **According to the Alola Board of Public Health and Safety, Wishiwashi-related incidents account for over a dozen incidents per year on average. Residents and visitors are advised to give large groups of Wishiwashi a wide berth when surfing, to avoid boating in areas where congregations are occurring, and to avoid threatening or startling this species where possible.

Reimu wasn't sure how to process what was on the screen. How can they be "among the weakest Pokémon there are" and be a public hazard at the same time? It didn't seem to make sense how this species became much more dangerous all of a sudden in large groups, but then, there were a lot of things in this world that seemed to flout her (admittedly skewed) sense of logic and the way things should be. She decided to keep the notice in mind, and keep Magnemite in hand just in case – after all, large groups or no, it was still weak to electricity.

She reached a far shore, got off of the Lapras, and made her way down the hill towards a lower pool that she thought the Wishiwashi had all swam down to. As she did, it began to drizzle a bit, almost as if on cue. The clouds began to darken, as well. Reimu knew where this was going: a storm was brewing.

As she reached the shore of the lower pool, she summoned up Lapras again, and instructed it to paddle to the center of the pool. It did as told, although as they got closer she could sense the hesitation within Lapras. Keeping Magnemite's Pokéball in a tight grip in between her fingers, Reimu steadfastly faced what was in front of her. Sweat began collecting on her brow; she wasn't sure if it was the humidity, the anticipation, the rain, or all of those at once.

As she neared the center of the pool, she heard a faint roar off in the distance. This spooked the Wishiwashi enough to scatter down another waterfall on the far side of the pool. Reimu's frustration at this development was tempered by a degree of curiosity. That roar, she thought. It sounded familiar somehow... like she knew a kind of creature that made it. It was almost like... a dragon's...

Once again, she disembarked the Lapras and made her way down the hill. The rain picked up, so much so that Reimu decided to change into her water gear and stay that way so that her clothes didn't get wet. Her freshly-done hair drooped from the moisture, clinging to the back of her neck like spider's silk, and the first rumbles of thunder could be heard off in the distance.

She made her way, through the grass, toward a large, wooden arch, with the Island Challenge symbols painted onto it and the words "Totem's Den" scrawled into it. Behind it was an ocean cove. Reimu wondered if the Wishiwashi had led her here on purpose, as if one of them or even the whole group was the totem. If it was, then perhaps she could get to see what made them so dangerous. Making sure Magnemite was ready, she proceeded under the arch, towards the water, and called forth Lapras to ferry her to the center.

Numerous Wishiwashi were jumping about the surface of the choppy water, and as Reimu got closer, she could feel an oppressive presence someplace nearby. Lapras did not wish to go further, terrified of what might happen. Despite this, Reimu was able to reassure it by calling out Magnemite to her side, which calmed it down somewhat, knowing that something could at least handle the threat. With that, it pulled forward towards the group.

Reimu pulled on the reins to get it to stop, in order to get a closer look at the group. She could see the school of Wishiwashi forming into what appeared to be a larger fish shape. Reimu's breathing heavied with anticipation, wondering what the fish could be doing. Is this what made it so threatening?

Then, there was an enormous wave.

The force of the wave pushed Lapras back and threatened to knock Reimu right off and into the water – possibly the last place she wanted to be right now. Gathering her strength, she held on for dear life, burning rope impressions into her palms in doing so. Magnemite was also knocked about, but steadied itself long enough to get behind its master and help prop her up.

Once she recovered, she did a quick scouting of the place, but one object right in front of her froze her gaze, as she simply sat there, jaw agape, at the sight just before her.

A rain of Wishiwashi cleared to reveal what seemed to be a massive, red, draconic serpent, staring right back at her. The beast's heavy breaths rumbled the waves and left thin clouds of steam, and it grumbled in a low, deep tone, its bloodshot, piercing gaze staring right into the shrine maiden's soul.

The two sized each other up for what seemed like an eternity, before a trembling Lapras attempted to flee. Before Reimu could steady her steed, the beast roared a deafening roar into the air, and at that moment, a massive cell of thunder and lightning lit up the sky, striking rock formations and trees and causing them to fall into the cove, creating huge waves in the process.

What an entry, Reimu thought to herself.

Without hesitation, she called on Magnemite. "Go! Thundershock!" she commanded, and Magnemite did just that. However, the beast dove underwater in order to avoid the attack.

Reimu decided to head back to the shore, where she had a plan. Perhaps if she could electrify the water, she could root it out where she could then attack it mercilessly.

"Bzzrt!" Rotom came out all of a sudden. "Looks like we're in a heap o' trouble now!"

Reimu grumbled as she looked aside to Rotm, "if you're gonna bug me in a moment like this, at least do something useful, like tell me what what it is I'm facing."

"At your servizzzzzzzzze!" Rotom chirped. It took no time pulling up a Dex entry for the monster.

_Gyarados, the Atrocious Pokémon. It has a perpetually short temper, and will destroy anything that so much as looks at it funny. It is considered a major hazard to shipping for this reason. Yarns tell of a Gyarados that raged for one month before it calmed down, leaving an entire coastal town in ruins."_

"Therezz more!" Rotom said. "That is a rare Shiny Gyarados! You can tell by it's red color-"

Suddenly, Rotom was knocked aside by Gyarados as it surfaced and flipped its tail into it, blocking Reimu's way back to shore. Gyarados roared in the shrine maiden's face once again, making its desire for battle and blood all the more known.

However, the battle-hardened shrine maiden, who had faced down vampires, goddesses, nuclear hell ravens and the entire Lunar army, wasn't about to be intimidated by this animal. Hiding her fear under a thick layer of bravado and determination, she stared right back at Gyarados. The two locked eyes for a long time, each scrutinizing the other and trying to find a weakness. Then, with one deft motion, she reached into her bag, found another one of her counter-spells that would work in this world, and with the flick of a wrist, threw it into the air, causing it to explode into hundreds of brightly-colored laser bullets going in each direction. It didn't really do any damage, and the beast gave exactly zero regards to spell card rules; nevertheless, it provided a distraction just long enough for her to make her escape.

"Go! Hup!" Reimu grunted, kicking the side of the Lapras with her foot to get it going. Just as she did, however, a large, crashing wave hit the Lapras, knocking it over and causing Reimu to fall off.

"Oh no! AH!" Reimu yelped as she fell into the water. As she splashed down into the water, the the Ride Pager's failsafe kicked in, instantly recalling the Lapras back to base, leaving Reimu alone with her Pokémon and the Gyarados. By this point, Rotom had managed to recover, while Magnemite was still busy attempting to dodge the Gyrados's attacks. It seemed the beast had gotten the better of the shrine maiden and claimed the day for itself.

...until bubbles emanated from the water, near where Reimu had fallen in. Just a moment later, SPLASH, as Reimu emerged from the water, standing and surfing on the back of a passing Mantine.

As she hung ten in the air just above the Gyarados, she looked down with a crazy grin plastered all over her soaking-wet face.

"...you're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT," she taunted. "Magnemite, blast it!"

Magnemite did as its master instructed, and readied a bolt of electricity to strike the Gyarados, but once again, it was interrupted, this time by a massive bolt of lighting striking it square on the screw on the top of its head. It just seemed like it couldn't catch a break today.

However, rather than injure it, Magnemite absorbed the lightning that struck it, maintaining an aura of pure, unadulterated crackling blue-and-white voltage which prevented the Gyarados from touching it. The electrical field was so powerful, it even made Reimu's wet hairs start to stand on end and warped the water just beneath it. A maelstrom of lighting swirled around it, and it floated there with the most adorably angry expression it could provide with only one eye.

It was then that Reimu caught sight of two objects in the air, approaching the battlefield fast. As they got closer, she realized that they were other Magnemites. It could call for backup, she wondered? Then, as the two neared Magnemite, they orbited around it for a few seconds before affixing themselves to it, bonding with a quick flash of electricity before unloading the lighting ball at Gyarados. It stood no chance against that much energy all at once; the blast created a brilliant, technicolor explosion that shot a column of lighting back up into the air, blasting Reimu and Mantine back onto shore and sending thousands of Wishiwashi (plus one seriously confused Psyduck) into the air. Wishiwashi rained down for almost a minute before the dust settled.

The Psyduck was completely unharmed.

* * *

As Reimu got back up and saw Mantine kick itself up from the sand and fly back towards the relative safety of the open sea beyond the cove, her eyes turned towards Magnemite – or rather, Magneton, as it had just become. Before she could even speak, Rotom swooped by and happily provided a Dex entry:

_Magneton, the Magnet Pokémon. It emits strange radio signals which can short out electrical equipment. During storms, they gather in high places to absorb any lightning that strikes. Despite forming from the union of three Magnemite, they do not become three times more intelligent._

Reimu nonchalantly called back Magneton into its Pokéball after that. Moments later, Lana came running down the hill in a panic.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" she exclaimed with a look of terror and embarrassment on her face. "This wasn't supposed to happen!"

Reimu caught the girl in her hands to steady her, then asked "calm down there, girl. What's going on?"

Lana stepped back, put her hands behind her back, and kicked the sand around with her foot. "Well, uh, that Totem battle didn't go as I wanted it to."

Reimu was confused. "But I knocked the Totem all the way into next week, didn't I? Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?"

"Er," Lana said, "you didn't quite... didn't quite. See, those Wishiwashi were supposed to school around the leader, who was actually the Totem Pokémon, and get into their far more powerful School form, and that's what you were supposed to fight. But, I guess I didn't train it hard enough, because that wild Gyarados just ate it right up." She was clearly upset. "Now I'm going to have to find and raise another Totem Pokémon. Mom's gonna – actually no, I'd rather Mom than Tapu Lele, who actually gave the Wishiwashi power in the first place."

She was silent for a few more seconds. "You see, the truth is, I only became a Trial Captain a few days ago. I inherited the position from Mom. The Totem Wishiwashi and its puzzle were all my idea, and I spent months training it before I got the job. You are only my first challenger. And, well, maybe my last, for a while."

Lana started to weep softly, before Reimu came over to her and comforted her. "Hey there," she said patting her, "don't feel so bad for yourself. Everyone makes mistakes on their first try. I used to be in your position, only the reason I became the Hakurei Shrine maiden was because I witnessed my mother die before my own eyes." She stopped for a few seconds to shake off that painful memory. "I shouldn't have moved up for another four years, but there were no other replacements. I made so many mistakes at first; in fact, I nearly destroyed the shrine once when I was still new. So, I know what's it's like, having that much burden on you."

Lana looked up at Reimu with a face full of morbid surprise. "...oh," was all that she said. "How old were you at the time?"

"Hmm," Reimu thought, "I want to say... six?"

"Wow," Lana replied. "I can't imagine what that must have been like. Makes losing Wishiwashi seem like nothing in comparison. Totem Pokémon are hard to replace, but they can still be replaced. You can't replace mom, especially when you see her die." Lana decided to end it there, sensing Reimu tensing up over the conversation.

"The point that I'm trying to make," Reimu told her, "is you should loosen up. If something doesn't work the first time, try again, and if it still doesn't work, then maybe take it apart, figure out where it's going wrong, try something else, and then try again."

Lana smiled softly. "Thanks."

Then, there was a small thud on the ground. Both girls turned around to see what it was, and to Lana's disbelief, it was the Totem Wishiwashi, distinguished by its slightly larger size and orange Totem aura.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. She rushed over to the fish to make sure it was okay. Fortunately, while it was a little shaken, it seemed no worse for wear.

Reimu walked over to examine it. "Ah, so it did survive," she said inquisitively. "Guess I have to fight it now?"

Lana looked at the fish, then looked up. "Actually, I don't think so." She looked back down at Wishiwashi, who was looking up at Reimu. "It seems its glad that you saved its life, even if you couldn't save its companions. It probably needs to rest a while."

"Yeah, that's probably for the best," Reimu commented.

It was then that Lana reached into her bag and pulled out a Waterium-Z, the prize for this trial, and presented it to Reimu. "I know you didn't do the challenge 'properly,' but they say that the Island Challenge is about more than just battles; it also tests your problem-solving, your grace, your bravery and valor, and your compassion. And most importantly, it tests bonds, between you and your Pokémon, and even other people. My mom met my dad on her Island Challenge, and they were married after she got her Island Challenge crown. So, take this from me as a symbol of your skill and bravery."

Reimu did just that, grasping the crystal from Lana's hand and placing it onto her Z-ring before flashing it like a boss.

Lana clapped. "Bravo I did something right today!" Just then, however, there was a rippling in the water just behind them. Both looked to see what it was, only for the rippling to become bubbles, then the Gyarados from before crashed out from under the water, gaping maw faced right at them.

"Gah-GHYAAA!" Lana jumped and screamed as she ran back with the Wishiwashi still in her arms. Reimu, however, stood undaunted.

"Haven't you learned your lesson?" she scolded. "No one beats a determined Hakurei Shrine Maiden!" She stood, Pokéball in hand, ready to fight.

...except, it seemed the Gyarados didn't want that. It just looked at her with what looked to be admiration behind a face stuck as angry. So she let her stance down and tried to read it.

"Lana," Reimu said, "I think it's safe. It doesn't seem to want to fight." She studied it some more before Lana came back to her side. "In fact, I think it wants... something more."

"What do you mean? Can you understand it somehow?" Lana asked.

"Well, I'm no mind-reader," Reimu told her, "but one thing I can do is read and manipulate auras. It's an ability I almost never use, since my faith powers are more important, but it seems, if I'm not mistaken, that it somehow respects me and wants me to take it with me." She reached into her bag and got out her one Ultra Ball. "Only one way to test that," she said, before chucking the device at Gyarados and capturing it inside. It gave almost no resistance, as there was only one twitch before the click.

Reimu picked the Pokéball up from near the water's edge, and held it up. "Well then," she spoke, "it would seem I have a new ally."

Lana walked forward to the shore where Reimu was. "You know," she said, "my mom told me a story about Gyarados. So, the thing about Gyarados is how dangerous it can be, and how hard it is to catch and train as a result. Most people you see who have a Gyarados either caught it as a Magikarp or received it as an egg and raised it."

It took a moment for Reimu to process what Lana just said before saying, in a surprised fashion, "wait, what? You're telling me that that weak orange fish in the Pokédex grows into THAT?!"

"I know, right?" Lana snickered.

Just then, however, Reimu recalled something. "Actually, now that I think about it, it's funny that that's how it is, since where I live, they say that a carp who can scale a waterfall will become a dragon. And, well, here is a fish who if you train it, it becomes a dragon." She looked at the Pokédex entry for Gyarados. "And yet, it's not Dragon-typed, oddly enough."

"Well, that leads into what I was going to say," Lana said. "Most Gyarados are blue, but the one you caught is an incredibly rare Red one, which IS part-Dragon. It's said that the Red ones are more intelligent than the blue ones, and while they can be just as fierce in battle, there's a certain amount of grace in their style that sets them apart from the blue ones as well. They say that anyone who manages to befriend one is destined to become the strongest trainer in their region. And, in the Legend of the Alolan Prince, a Red Gyarados was part of Prince Kamehameha's team as a young adult."

Reimu was puzzled for a second. "Wait, prince who?"

"Prince Kamehameha," Lana repeated. "The story of him is an integral part of Alolan lore. Everyone who lives here knows his story and how he helped shape the Alola of today." She paused for a second. "But, I suppose you can learn that on your own time. Right now, I should care for Wishiwashi. You can continue your Island Challenge."

"Thanks," Reimu replied, before noticing Lana looking at her strangely. She looked around, before asking "what is it?"

Lana told her "I think you have a shadow."

Reimu looked behind her, and saw a blue-and-black dog-like figure peeking at her from within the grass for a split-second before it disappeared back into it.

"Hmm, odd," she commented, before starting back up the hill. Before she left, she turned around toward Lana, and waved back at her. "I'm leaving now. And remember everything I said!"

"I will!" Lana said back, before going aside to tend to Wishiwashi. And with that, Reimu continued on to the next part of her journey.

Meanwhile, the Psyduck just sat on the shore, contemplating its existence in light of what happened. Or, maybe it wasn't. To this day, no one quite knows what it thought about that morning.


	18. Blade

Alice's cottage smells like the things of country living and dollmaking: tea and paint, firewood and ink, dried herbs and newly-fired porcelain.

It's been a busy day at the cottage, and Alice calls her dolls back to their places on the shelves at the end of a hard, long day of working. The dolls do not mind, as their only motivation is to serve the will of their master, such as one doll in particular, made several months before. With a clap of her hands, each one takes their spot on the shelf, and this doll is no different. The lights go out, and Alice goes to bed.

The doll sits on the shelf, awaiting orders.

* * *

The doll was still getting used to not being a doll. Sunshine still wasn't sure what she was: she really wasn't human, and she wasn't sure she felt like a youkai. Instead, she felt... different. She couldn't lay a finger on it; even though she was now fully living, she didn't feel fully organic: for example, she didn't go to the bathroom like her mothers did. She did grow, a centimeter since the previous day in fact, and her hair grew as well, and she had organic-feeling skin, but no saliva or other excretions.

However, she did seem to exude more heat than normal for a little girl. So much so that Alice grew concerned and took her to the doctor again today to have her checked out.

Eirin felt around the little girl, took her temperature, made her cough a couple times, the whole nine yards, in order to try to establish what was going on with her, but other than a slightly higher than normal temperature she seemed to be perfectly healthy.

She let Sunshine go, then talked to Alice and Marisa.

"I'm not sure what's going on with her," she said. "My guess is that whatever 'gave her life' yesterday triggered something in her that gives her a higher than normal body temperature. Some creatures do have a higher normal temperature than humans do, so I would assume this is true for her. Just watch her and bring her back in if other symptoms come up."

Alice wasn't totally convinced that nothing was wrong with her, but if even the doctor, in all her wisdom, was stumped, then there wasn't too much she could do about it. She took Sunshine under her arm and said "okay, thank you."

"Oh, one more thing," Eirin stopped them before they left. "I did notice one other thing."

"Hmm?" Alice wondered.

"Well, I tried to use a light to look down her throat, but it went out when I did. So I checked the power source and tried again, but it went out again. I then lit some candles as a test, and when she went near them, the flames went out and a stream entered her body."

"What are ya' trying to say?" Marisa asked.

"I think she now has the ability to absorb light," the doctor said to them.

Alice was curious. "Oh? Like Rumia?"

"Well, sort of," Eirin said. "Rumia creates darkness, whereas Sunshine absorbs light. It's a little different. I think that, if she doesn't excrete, she could be using light as a power source. Has she been eating?"

"Yeah, but not as much when it's bright out," Marisa said.

"She's not drinking anything, no matter how much we make her," Alice said.

"Then she must also be converting food into energy to power herself in the absence of light, and her higher body temperature is something like a furnace," she said. "I guess just make sure to limit the time she's in dark places if that's the case."

Unsure what to make of this new knowledge, the two magicians took Sunshine home.

Diancie still wasn't sure what to make of all the dolls flying around doing chores for Alice. It seemed as if the dollmaker just had wave after wave of servants doing her bidding so she could focus on magic.

She wondered if Alice and Marisa could conjure diamonds out of the air like she did.

She also wasn't sure what to make of Ichigo, who now seemed to be just as interested in practicing magic as the two magicians. Sunshine wasn't really a magician, even if she could fire lasers, but Ichigo had spent the night mastering a technique of its own. No longer simply a mindless servant to Sunshine, it now had a will of its own and a curiosity of the world at large.

Diancie tried to make herself useful in any way she could, such as moving things around and helping Sunshine reach high places. Between the dolls as well as Sunshine's new companions, it was a very busy day around the cottage all around.

Today was cleaning day at the cottage, and given the amount of junk that Marisa had already amassed, everyone knew it was going to be a long day, especially since Alice knew Marisa would do essentially nothing to help out. It was a behavior she didn't really fight, since those arguments never went anywhere anyway.

"Alright everyone!" Alice said clapping her hands. "Today is cleaning day! Sunshine, I want you to clean your room, and when you're done with that I want you to come help out in the living room dusting things off and moving Marisa's junk into our room."

"Okay mom," Sunshine said in agreement.

Alice turned to the other dolls floating around waiting for orders. "Everyone else, come line up and get your tools!" The dolls all lined up and awaited their assigned duties. Meanwhile, Sunshine and her companions went back to her room to clean it up.

This didn't take long, unlike most kid's rooms. Her lingering doll instincts combined with her six total pairs of hands meant that the place was usually spic-and-span most of the time anyway, so a thorough head-to-toe cleaning including moving some junk out and dusting off the flat surfaces didn't take more than a half-hour.

She came out of her room to meet Alice, who was still directing dolls to clean the windows, cabinets, shelves, and the like.

"All done!" she beamed.

Alice turned around. "Alright, I'll go inspect your room in a second. Now, I have a new job for you." She pointed at some stuff piled up in one corner of the fruit room. "I need that stuff out here sorted out so I can put it where it goes. I've been meaning to do it for months, but kept putting it off because of you. Then I need that pile of trash," she looked at Marisa, who was sleeping on the couch with a duster in her hand, "out front so I can burn it."

"Will do, mom!" Sunshine said to her. Alice smiled.

Sunshine decided to start with the pile of trash in front of her. She went and found a large basket to carry more of it out in, then filled it up while instructing Ichigo and Diancie to each grab armfuls and bring it out front.

It was about this time that Marisa decided to wake up and actually do something productive. She went over to Sunshine, who was busy carrying more trash out.

"Takin' out the trash?" Marisa asked.

"Yes I am," Sunshine smiled. So did Marisa, until she noticed a photograph in Sunshine's load.

"Wait!" Marisa exclaimed, stopping Sunshine.

"What is it?" the little girl asked.

Marisa got the photograph out of Sunshine's basket and held it tightly. "This, uh, photo is very important to me! Please be careful takin' out the junk, I might still need some of it!" She walked away to her room.

Sunshine wondered why such a dusty old photo could be so important to a person, before getting back to the task at hand. Eventually, the trash was cleared, and she moved on to the pile of clutter in the fruit room. For the most part, it was just bags of dried beans and other non-perishables, stuff that Alice kept around for emergencies, although doll parts were also in the pile. For all her laying into Marisa for her laziness, Alice was guilty of some sloppiness too, particularly without her dolls.

Sunshine, Ichigo and Diancie all laid this out on the floor in front of the fruit room, and within a few minutes Alice came by to check their work.

"All done?" she asked. "You sure are fast."

Alice went through the inventory and put it in its proper place – beans on the shelf, cans on the shelf, doll parts in the repository. At one point she got to an origami creation with yellow sticks poking out of the back.

She held it up in the air, unsure what it was.

"Strange," she said. "I don't ever recall owning something like this..." She looked over at Sunshine. "You can do whatever you want with this. I'm not sure where it came from."

Sunshine took the origami doll and decided to place it in her room as a trophy of sorts. As she did, however, light began beaming from her hands and into the doll. This happened throughout the day, it seemed, light beaming from her hands for no reason; it was just thought to be one of her quirks. This time, however, the doll seemed to react to the light.

After the lights beamed, slowly, the doll got up on its own, surprising Sunshine enough to drop it.

"Whoa!" she said. "I wasn't expecting you to move!"

The doll fell for a bit before stopping the fall and floating in the air. Its face didn't really have any features, just some folds that opened up to a yellow "eye" of sorts.

The doll looked up at the former doll in a way that suggested it was scrutinizing her. At this point, it seemed to Sunshine that she had a talent for attracting fairy companions such as this one.

Then, a telepathic voice shot into her head.

"I have been given light," the voice said. "I have been given back life. For that, I thank you."

"Who is that?!" Sunshine called out. Then, she looked down at the origami doll, and slowly put the pieces together.

"It's you?" she thought.

"It is me," the doll said. "I have been without light to photosynthesize for a long time, so I lay idle. But now you have given me light, so I can move once again."

"Photosynthesize?" Sunshine thought.

"I may look like an origami doll," the doll said, "but I am in fact a plant. These arms are my leaves, this body is my stem. But I do not root myself like the plants you know. Instead..."

It went out the window towards the hedges, which some dolls were out trimming, and the origami doll, in one swoop, slashed the hedges into a perfectly trimmed shape, in the process cutting a couple of dolls in half.

"I get my energy from the things I slash with my blades."

Diancie butted in. "He's a Kartana. I've heard master talk about them. They're a strange category of Pokémon called Ultra Beasts, and they come from another dimension."

"Ultra Beasts?" Sunshine asked, but before they could answer she could hear voices outside.

"What the heck was that?" Alice exclaimed. She could see a few dolls taking their former comrade's remains with them, and in front of her was a perfectly trimmed hedge.

"Who did this?" she asked. Maybe that new fairy of Sunshine's?

She went into Sunshine's room to see what was up. When she entered, she could see the Kartana with Sunshine, Diance and Ichigo deep in telepathic conversation.

"Is that the origami doll?" she asked.

Sunshine responded, "yes mom, he tells me he's a 'Kartana,' and he came back to life when I gave him light to... photosynthesize?"

"Photosynthesize?" Alice asked. "You mean he's a plant?"

"Yes, and apparently, another 'Pokémon.'"

Alice wondered for a bit, then asked "how did he tell you this?"

"I don't know," Sunshine responded, "I just kind of heard a voice and figured it was from him. And a voice from Diancie, too."

Alice took a moment to realize the implications of this, then went and got Marisa.

* * *

"Good morning," Patchy told the couple.

"Patchy, we have some news," Alice said. "Sunshine's a psychic."

"A psychic?" the librarian asked surprised. "But I thought I told you dolls didn't have any inherent magical powers."

"She's not a doll anymore," Alice barked, "she's... something else. A giant deer gave her life and now she's... something I don't even know what to call it."

Patchy scrutinized the little girl then asked her, "come with me. We have some evaluation we need to do."

* * *

The last time Miss Knowledge evaluated Sunshine's magical prowess, she had determined that she couldn't project the magical spark needed to perform worthwhile magic. But if she allegedly now had psychic powers and could shoot lasers, that meant something had since ticked in her by being 'given life' by this whatever it was.

She dug out her Triskelion of Philochorus again and asked Sunshine to step on it. This time, she wanted to evaluate what her power potential was. Perhaps not magical potential, per se, but rather what was her ability to use these powers she had.

She got out an enchanted bronze target used for testing spell cards and placed it in front of the girl. Then, she instructed "I want you to concentrate your power into an attack against that target."

Sunshine nodded, then went deep into thought. She maintained this for several seconds.

Marisa asked "what's goin' on?"

"Give her some time to focus," Patchy insisted. "I want to see what she's capable of."

After some number of moments, Sunshine put her hands out as if she were grabbing a ball.

"Mmm, a classic energy attack maneuver," Patchy noted.

Then, a ball of light energy quickly formed between Sunshine's hands. As it did, the already dim library darkened considerably; candles went out, what few windows there were darkened, light orbs used for seeing went dark or dimmed.

"She's absorbing light in the room to power the attack," Patchy noted again.

After a few seconds, the light ball reformed into a glowing energy ball which Sunshine released towards the target. As it flew, it whipped up loose papers and incinerated them; magical artifacts came falling down and it left a light shadow where it barreled through.

Finally, it hit the bronze target with a terrific explosion, producing a blinding column of light as the target was sent rocketing back into a wall, smashing into it with full force.

As the dust settled, the light returned to normal and Sunshine was left with a confused look on her face regarding what she had just done.

"Amazing," Patchy said. "I designed that target to withstand even the toughest, most intricate spell cards, and yet your attack possessed so much raw power it sent it hurtling back. What do you call it?"

Sunshine wondered for a moment, but then that voice came into her head again.

"PHOTON GEYSER."

"...Photon Geyser?"

It seemed she was getting better with names, Alice thought.

"Photon Geyser... what an interesting attack," Patchy commented. "Let me talk with your mothers while Miss Sakuya gets you a snack."

Sunshine walked off with Sakuya while Patchy sat down with Alice and Marisa.

"So?" Alice asked. "Is she magical?"

"No." Patchy bluntly responded. "She is something more."

"More?" Alice replied. "How so?"

"That attack you just witnessed tops even the Master Spark in power by a country mile. I have seen that level of power only once before."

"Toppin' my Master Spark?" Marisa commented. "What can do that?"

"Gods."

Alice crept forward in her chair. "Gods?"

"Yes, and not just the shrine-based gods of Shintoism and Taoism, I'm talking about the monotheistic-tier ones on the level of the Christian God and the... Dragon God."

"The Dragon God?" Alice said, "you can't be serious. Is she really that powerful?"

"I don't know," Patchouli said, "and our only method of being able to confirm that hunch is currently missing."

She then got out a small magical device. "Now let's measure her psychic potential, if indeed she is a psychic. This device here is used for monitoring psyonic potential. I want to see how powerful exactly her potential is." She waved the device over Sunshine, and it spat back a number.

"Well?" Alice asked.

"Astounding. Normal levels are 100-200. The Satori has about 5000. But this is registering over 20,000. I've never seen numbers like this. It means she's extremely sensitive to telekinetic forces to the point of being able to interpret the thoughts of lower life forms."

Marisa slouched back, her hat partially covering her face. "So, super psychic powers and a mini-nuke light attack. Not bad for a former doll."

"Don't you get it Marisa?" Alice said to her. "We have a very power child on our hands now. She might even be way above our league."

"Indeed she might," Patchy added. "Or, she might just be an anomalously powerful... individual. She's certainly not human. And she doesn't have an aversion to iron or holy sources, so she's not a fairy and most likely not a youkai. In fact, if anything, she seems to radiate energy that causes fairies to be averse to her."

"Sounds an awful lot like a god to me," Marisa said.

"Who knows? Again, our only reliable way of confirming that is missing at the moment. The only thing I can suggest for the moment is you try and train her as best you can in using her incredible power. Once the shrine maiden returns, it may be advisable to take Sunshine to her."

* * *

Alice wasn't sure what to think after Patchouli let them go. Her daughter might be a god, and she had three fairy companions with a great interest in her. Even Ichigo now had the ability to shoot shadowy blobs at targets, as demonstrated earlier that day.

Whatever that deer did to the two of them, it was incredible. Way above Alice's pay grade.

The family silently went home and spent the rest of the night quietly contemplating what would happen to them now.

At the dinner table, Marisa and Alice could barely eat, while Sunshine put away half the food on the table without skipping a beat.

"Hungry girl?" asked Alice.

"Mmmhmm," Sunshine said with her mouth full. Normally, this amount of food would be enough to keep her up all night, but because of her new body she was more likely to go to rest instead, especially if it was dark since she seemed to become more sluggish in the dark.

Alice leaned to Marisa. "I've never seen such light-related powers in a person before."

"Eh, beats not havin' no magic skills," Marisa remarked.

"True," Alice said, "except it seems to go... beyond that. As if light was her blood. I've begun to notice that she slightly glows in the dark, and that oragami doll seems to be powered by her light just as well as the sun."

Marisa looked at Sunshine's fairy companions, who were all sleeping in the corner of the room. "She has quite the cadre, I'll give ya' that."

"It's almost like she attracts them like the Satori attracts animals," Alice said. "Maybe they sense something in her..."

"Who knows?" said Marisa.

Alice wondered for a bit, then remembered something.

"Oh, yes, you never did tell me if you got anything from Cirno yesterday."

"Took getting an icicle up my rear, but I blasted her all the same. Still airheaded as always, that girl is," Marisa smiled. "Anyway, I actually did get something from her."

"What is it?" Alice asked.

"Well," Marisa started, "she told me that Rumia's been acting suspiciously lately."

"Rumia? You mean that darkness youkai?" Alice was puzzled. Rumia was supposed to be one of the weakest youkai in Gensokyo, incapable of causing much harm despite her incessant desire to eat humans, since she wasn't immune to her own darkness powers and therefore stumbled a lot.

"Yeah," Marisa said. "Apparently, she's been going missing a lot the past few days, and when Cirno did see her she acted... off. It's not much to go off of, but it is something."

"You know that girl is just a weak youkai, right? I seriously doubt going missing a bunch implicates her in this gargantuan incident."

"I dunno," Marisa responded, "ever since I first met her when I was, what, twelve? I used to think that, but for some reason I've always felt like she's hiding something. Something huge. I've heard rumors that that amulet on her head is a power limiter of sorts, holding back a far stronger form. But, it's just rumors, so I dunno if they're true or not."

"I'll tell you what," Alice said taking a bite of food, "I'll go out tomorrow and try and find Rumia. Perhaps we can get what we need, or we may not. Worst case scenario, we just hit another dead-end and we have to go looking somewhere else. The perpetrator has to reveal themselves at some point, and who knows, given what just happened, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if some eldritch monster unrelated to anything in Gensokyo is behind all this."

"That would be one hell of a fight," Marisa smirked.

Alice sighed. Always thinking with your muscles, you thick-headed half-wit, she thought. Marisa was so belligerent, she would find any excuse to fight anything, even if she would clearly lose. If it wasn't for her, Rinnosuke and Marisa's father before Marisa left, she would be dead. Several times. Within the past day.

* * *

After a while, it got dark and Alice decided it was time for everyone to go to bed. She put out the lights, had Sunshine and the dolls clean up and brush up, then put her to bed.

As she did, Sunshine asked "what will happen to me now, mom?"

"I don't know, sweetie," Alice said softly, kissing her. Sunshine was very warm, the product of the furnace burning within her. She went to put out the light, but Sunshine objected.

"Don't," she said to Alice. "It hurts, the dark."

Alice thought about this, then said, "okay." She left the magical light glowing in Sunshine's room while Sunshine drifted off.

She went to her room, where Marisa was already in bed. Strange, Alice thought, Marisa usually stays up a while. She shook her head. Perhaps it's been a big day for her too, she thought. She decided not to question it, and after changing into her nightgown, she crawled into bed next to her.

"Good night," she said putting out the light, and drifting off to sleep.

The truth was, Marisa was only feigning sleep. She waited a while until she was sure Alice was asleep, before crawling out and heading toward the bathroom.

There, she looked at herself in the mirror for a long while, contemplating herself and her reality. It was then that she put her hands to her eyes and peeled off the yellow lenses that she wore, revealing piercing emerald irises beneath them. She stared at herself longer, before heading down and heading out.

She looked around to make sure she was the only one up, before heading to her workshop in the backyard. Once there, she shuffled around the clutter, before finding the photograph from earlier among her things.

She cast a light ball so she could see it.

She looked at it while holding it with both of her hands, staring at it longingly while a single tear trickled down the right side of her face.

She muttered, "I'll never forget." She closed her eyes and looked down for a few moments before uttering, "I will finish what I started."

She held the photo tightly to her breast while she knelt down and sobbed long into the night.


	19. Touhou Battle Royal

"What's a Cosmog, yo"?

"I keep telling you, it looks like this." The grunt took out a poorly-drawn picture that resembled a hot-dog more than it did Nebby and pointed at it for the other grunt.

"Looks like glitter puke to me, yo," the other grunt said.

"Well, the boss didn't give a good description," the first grunt said. "He just said like 'it uh looks like uh some purple-and-black puffball thing with gold sparkles all over it.' He sounded like he was smokin' when he was tellin' us all that."

"How do you know it was boss and not that stoner Beavis?"

"I dunno, I can't remember if Beavis has a phone or not, so I just assumed it was boss or somethin'."

"He was posting pictures of him and his girlfriend crashin' that party at that resort near Blush when the cops showed up, of course he has a phone!"

"How do you know he had a phone and he wasn't just bummin' – "

"You two are completely useless," Gladion butted in.

"Oh, excuuuuse me, underboss, it's not like we're supposed to be geniuses in everything!" one of the grunts barked.

"There's a difference between being a genius and having enough sense to be able to focus on the task at hand, which you two clearly do not. And in any case," he snatched the picture from the grunt's hand, "this is so badly drawn a kindergartner would think you're bad at art. We can't gather anything useful from this."

One grunt spoke up, "then what do you think we should do, hot-shot?"

"Get a better idea of what it is we're looking for," he sternly said to them. "Find some way to contact Guz- er, Boss and have him spell out to you exactly what it is he wants you to find and why."

One of the grunts thought for a second before having a brainwave. "Yeah, why are we lookin' for this thing, anyway?"

"I dunno," the other grunt said to her. "Maybe because we'll get rich?"

"What good's money to us?" the grunt spoke up. "I don't know what else to spend it on besides tank-tops and weed!"

"Food, maybe? Perhaps?" Gladion at this moment could not believe the morons in front of him. Sure, he was attempting to lead them astray and keep them from discovering the truth of what it was they were out to find, and he had a pretty good feeling of who was pulling the strings unlike everyone else in Team Skull, but he seriously wondered how in the world this gaggle of nitwits was able to stay together like it did. They barely had enough money to survive, much less try and dominate the islands in black market activity, and many of the grunts were quite literally subsisting off of grass, dirt and even Bug-types, although they had to do that last one out of sight of Guzma, lest he violently lash out at them.

This all was taking place on the side of the road between Paniola Ranch and Royal Avenue, in front of the bus stop. A bus stop that Reimu was told she needed to go to in order to get to the next trial faster. The two grunts kept bickering with each other, unaware of the legend that had just gotten off of Tauros right behind them and was counting out enough money for the fare.

" – and so I told HER that it was HER responsibility to go get the berries we needed in order to have that fruit roast, because we all agreed to have a fruit roast!"

"And I said that it was lame we were roasting berries instead of something good like hot-dogs, because we can't even afford THAT!"

"Hey, I wasn't the one that blew all the money on the cheap roofies that didn't do anything!"

A strange voice butted in, "well maybe if you got good at battling, you might earn enough to go buy something decent."

The two grunts peeked over their shoulders only to be met with the sight of red-and-white death.

"Aw snap!" one of them yelled, wide eyed.

"It's her!"

"We gotta blow!"

"Right!"

And with that, the two scrambled off up the road and into the underbrush of the jungle.

"Hmph," Gladion huffed, "I guess I should have expected to run into _you _at some point." He crossed his arms. "I don't suppose you're on your way to Royal Avenue as well?"

"Well," Reimu said somewhat awkwardly, "that's where they said to go..."

"As expected," Gladion hissed, "still very naive about your situation, so caught up in your supposed abilities that you don't even try to realize the full extent of what you've gotten into. How easily someone could take advantage of you, or worse." He hunched back up and grabbed a Pokéball out of his pocket. "Like, what would happen if someone suddenly did THIS," he said as he swiftly sent out a Zubat.

Reimu, of course, was ready to respond in kind. "Then I would just have to meet the challenge head-on," she said as Sasha was called out, ready to fight. "Go Bite its head off!"

Sasha did just as his master commanded and lunged straight at the Zubat. It had gotten used to swatting these things en masse when traversing through caves, and one under the guidance of a trainer was unlikely to be much stronger. But this time, something strange happened: just as he was about to attack the Zubat, he seemingly crashed into thin air, causing the "Zubat" to fly back, before being surrounded in a puff of black smoke. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a small, black-and-red fox, which crashed into the basalt face behind Gladion and fell back down to the ground. It struggled to get itself back up off of the ground before Sasha finished it off with a claw slash.

"Impressive," Gladion commented as he called back Zorua. "You have trained your Torracat well. But have you trained the rest of your team so well? I want to see before I do anything."

Reimu thought about this statement; he just wanted to get some cheap shots in on her other Pokémon. But then, she knew that she had trained each of her Pokémon well, and was eager to demonstrate to this punk the strength of her team. So she called back Sasha and sent out Magneton, primed and ready to fight, just as Gladion sent out what Reimu hoped was the REAL Zubat.

"Seems you've made a poor choice," Reimu taunted. "Thunderbolt!"

And with that, Magneton pumped thousands of volts into the small flying-type, instantly fainting it. The attack was actually so vigorous, it left burn marks on the ground, frayed blades of grass, left residual sparks in between the magnetic rocks on the basalt face, and left Reimu and Gladion's hair standing on end.

"Most impressive," Gladion said lowly. "Guess I'll have to send in the cavalry." With that, he grabbed his last Pokéball, which Reimu saw was different from his other, standard Pokéballs; she would later learn that this was a Luxury Ball.

And what came out of that ball was a creature she had never seen before: it had a grey body, with a mammalian body (but with a fish-like tail), reptile-like scales, insectoid front legs, a bird-like ruffed collar, and a head concealed in heavy headgear with only two small eyeholes and what looked to her like an axe on top.

Rotom instantly came out to try and identify it, but couldn't come up with anything. "Bzzrt, I have no clue what this thing is. I can continue to analyze it, if you want."

"Do that," Reimu said. She commanded Magnemite to send out another Thunderbolt, which struck the mysterious chimera in front of her with the same intensity as Zubat. However, unlike the squishy Zubat, this one managed to survive the blast, albeit with some burn marks covering it.

Gladion commanded it to attack Magneton, however it seemed to hesitate in doing so, hinting to Reimu that it didn't fully trust its trainer. And even when it did lunge forward, it seemed to struggle to do so under the weight of its headgear, such that Magneton could easily avoid it. The one attack it did get in, it managed to knock Magneton back a few meters, but it hardly left a scratch.

Reimu decided at this point that even though it was physically tough, it wasn't at all well-trained. So she felt it would be a good idea to start training her brand-new Gyarados, since she knew she needed practice wrangling it given its disposition. So she called back Magneton and sent out the red Gyarados, which was ready and willing to go down and get dirty.

Naturally, being fresh out of the wild, it didn't have much in the way of strong attacks: Dragon Tail, Bite, Twister, Leer. She felt that Gyarados's overwhelming presence would be more than enough to compensate for shortcomings in actual attack strength.

"Twister!" she commanded. It took Gyarados a second to process this request, but once it did, it whipped its tail around, the fin at the end creating a small tornado which picked up rock and debris as it struck the chimera. No doubt the move was meant to be used in water, she surmised, since the same attack was far more powerful when she was fighting to capture it, so it was no surprise when the creature got back up from it, albeit each time this happened it seemed to struggle more and more.

Bit by bit, attack by attack, it was worn down, and eventually it could just no longer bring itself to try and attack, so it just gave up, leaving Gladion no choice but to recall it and concede.

"I see I underestimated you," Gladion grumbled.

Reimu smirked. "Well, now you see don't you? I mean, sure I might still be relatively new at Pokémon battles, but I've been battling by myself for much longer. And I've fought things that you wouldn't even imagine. Goddesses, demons, space aliens, you name it. I've yet to come into anything here that comes anywhere near those things."

Gladion wouldn't comment.

"But," she wondered, "what was that last one? It was super resilient, and also really bizarre."

Again, Gladion wouldn't comment. Instead, he just grumbled as he looked down.

"Is there something you don't want to tell me?" she pressed him.

Finally, Gladion spoke up. "Let's just say I don't like talking about how or why I got it when I did." It was obvious to her, from this statement, that Gladion had gotten a hold of it illegally, but she wasn't about to press for details since she felt they weren't needed.

"Well then," Reimu asked again, "what do you call it?"

It took Gladion a while to answer. "...Type:...Null."

Type: Null? That was a weird name for a Pokémon, assuming it even was one. "I see," she said nonchalantly. Of course Rotom overheard this and added this new information to the 'Dex, but even then what it had was sparse. All it could figure out was that it appeared to be Normal-typed (which gave its unusual name some meaning); it couldn't glean anything on its statistics other than that at least its defenses were high, at least 95 each, and it also decided its ability was Battle Armor, but other than that it had nothing. Not even if it evolved into or from anything.

The bus pulled up just then, and both Reimu and Gladion got on board. Gladion has refused to hand Reimu any prize money, thinking that that would be an embarrassment he couldn't deal with, but he decided to at least cover her bus fare once she insisted. They took seats near the back just as the bus started rolling off towards Royal Avenue.

"So I'm assuming you're some sort of leader within Team Skull?" Reimu asked.

Gladion gruffed a couple of times before responding "my job is to keep the idiots in line and make sure they don't hurt themselves straining their excuses for brains and getting into trouble."

Reimu giggled as she recalled back at Big Wave Beach how they would constantly wipe out trying to dance on the Mantines, only for Gladion to cut her off. "It's not funny," he scowled. "If you were to see half of what we go through, well, you would be very, very shocked and appalled."

"So why do you associate with them, if that's the case?" Reimu asked.

Gladion hoped she wouldn't ask this question. Each time she poked him for details put him closer to spilling the whole truth to her, about how he stole Type: Null from the lab two years ago and ran off. He knew that she hung around Lillie, who likely would have told of him, so just telling Reimu his name would cause her to put the pieces together. So he came up with an answer that he hoped would satisfy Reimu without revealing too much.

"Look, I don't know if there are gangs wherever you're from, but Team Skull is what you might consider a band of misfits. Each of us ran away from home for one reason or another. Some of us don't even have any living relatives left. We only have each other in this miserable existence, and we get by doing what we must."

Reimu knew that Gladion was trying to make this world sound like a harsh place, but what he failed to realize was that she could relate. At least here, you didn't have to worry about youkai trying to eat you after dark. And she could relate to not having parents as well, since both of hers were dead or missing. So as far as she was concerned, until she saw their living conditions for herself, she would say Gladion and the other Team Skull grunts were fortunate to have what they had. So she just kind of nodded along as he talked about how hard their lives were.

* * *

Before long, the bus pulled up in front of the Pokémon Center on Royal Avenue, a small but vibrant seaside town at the base of the Wela Volcano, built around its star attraction, the Battle Royal Dome. There were a few hotels and condominiums, but unlike the fancy resorts elsewhere on the island, these hotels, inns and B&Bs were more low-cost and utilitarian to accommodate the Royal battlers and the throngs of fans they brought along with them. The dome wasn't even the biggest of its kind in the world, but it was the first, having popularized the format and being considered a must-hit on the Royal circuit.

Gladion got off the bus and took off without saying anything. Reimu got off and decided to the use the Pokémon Center which was right there to heal her team back up, restock on supplies and see if the café had any good tea.

Of course, she wasn't the only one with that idea.

"Reimu!" a voice called out.

Reimu looked around, and saw Hau standing in the corner, waving and smiling.

"Well, well, what a surprise," Reimu semi-sarcastically confided as she made her way over to him. "How did you do on your trial?"

Hau beamed, "I killed it! You wouldn't believe how good Hedwig was at -"

"Nah, don't give it away," Reimu replied. "I want to find out for myself what kind of tricks Mallow's got up her sleeves so I can blow her away even more when I crush it."

She then went up to the café counter and took a good look at what was on offer. And there was tea, of course, although she still had a hard time understanding why in the world anyone would want their tea iced. Then again, considering Gensokyo's hot and muggy summers, she wondered why she and nobody at home came up with the idea sooner; surely iced tea would be just the sort of thing Cirno would try to peddle. So she ordered a go cup of it, unsweetened, and made her way back to where Hau was lounging.

As she did, the nurse caught her eye and spoke up.

"Hey," she said, "you're Reimu, aren't you?"

Her new style was getting less and less effective by the minute, it seemed.

"How do you figure?" she asked inquisitively.

"Because I heard you're the only one with that particular Pokéball visor."

Reimu wasn't going to fight it. "Okay, you got me. I'm her." She sauntered her way to the counter, produced her Pokéballs, and handed them off to the nurse for healing.

"I've heard all about you," the nurse chirped. "Is it true? Are you really from another world?"

"Well, that's what everyone around here seems to think," Reimu replied snidely. "Getting tossed out a magical warp hole does that."

"Wow, that's amazing," the nurse said to her. "What's it like where you're from?"

Reimu thought for a moment: what would be the best one-word summation for a fantasy kitchen sink where everything forgotten and no longer believed try to blow each other's brains out on a daily basis with enough firepower to carpet-bomb the entire continental United States and where common sense was not only in short supply, but trying to operate off of it was considered a disadvantage?  
"Lunatic," she replied back.

The nurse gave Reimu her Pokémon, but just after she did, she asked Reimu if she could wait one moment while she went into the back to get something, which Reimu did. A few moments later, she came back with what looked like a large, yellow-spiked crystal.

"This is a Max Revive," she said. "They're very pricy, and for good reason: you can use them on a fainted Pokémon to instantly revive them back to full fighting health! It's like a Pokémon center on the go, but it's only good once." She handed it to Reimu, who carefully put it in her bag. "Consider it a gift from me to you," she said as she bowed."

"Uh, thanks!" Reimu showed her appreciation before she went back over to Hau.

"So, Hau," she asked as she said down, "what brings you here? Surely it wasn't too far from Mallow's trial to Lana's."

"Well," Hau replied, "that's what I was gonna do next, but then I got a call from Burnet, who told me that the Masked Royal was going to be at the Battle Royal Dome today! No way I'm missing that!"

Reimu took another sip. "The Masked what now?"

"The Masked Royal! He's the Battle Royal champ! Nobody can touch him, and everyone loves him!"

"Nobody, huh?" Reimu could sense a challenge coming. Sure, she wasn't like Marisa, who literally just threw herself into any and every fight that happened to crop up, regardless of whether she would win, lose, or even if she had a stake in it in the first place. She wasn't stupid. But, she did take a certain amount of pride in being able to humble the strongest of foes, up to and including Yukari herself (granted, Yukari never used the full extent of her power, but actually making her put an effort into it or, even better, sweat, was an achievement all its own). It's how she's been able to hold her position as the undisputed incident resolver of Gensokyo, and potentially the reason she wasn't yet youkai food. So she certainly was tempted to meet this Masked whatever and teach them how to actually fight.

Of course, Hau could see that look from a mile away. "What, you think you could beat him?"

Reimu glanced aside. "Well, I didn't say _that _," she said in the same playful tone Yukari would often used. "What makes you think that?"

"Oh, c'mon, I know that look. You just wanna go in there and kick his butt. But I'm tellin' ya, nobody can beat the Masked Royal. Not even Gramps!"

Reimu smirked. "Well, I did beat your grandpa, and so did you."

Hau slumped in his chair. "Good point."

Reimu got up. "Well, what are we waiting for? I'm sure he'll be there any minute. Heck, maybe he's there right now!"

So the two of them recalled all their Pokemon that they had out, got their stuff together, and exited the Pokemon Center, making their way towards the Battle Royal Dome. 

* * *

The Streets of Royal Avenue were lined with all sorts of vendors selling overpriced souvenirs, overpriced concessions, overpriced… well, let's just say there was a markup on_everything _, and considering most things were more expensive in Alola anyway because of how remote it was, that was saying a lot. What disturbed Reimu the most, however, was that between all the stands selling fake TOTALLY LEGIT AUTOGRAPHED POSTERS and novelty blow-up Incineroar mascots (which also weirded her out since apparently that's what Sasha would eventually become) were people selling art of her and Sasha in Pokemon battles.

She'd only been here a few days and she was already getting brand recognition.

She shook it all off, and the two of them continued toward the Royal Dome. Already, huge crowds had gathered around the entrance, many of them carrying banners declaring their support for the Masked Royal. Others were wearing replicas of his mask.

"This is bad," Reimu commented. "How are we going to get in?"

"Watch this," Hau winked. He strutted right up to the ticket counter. Reimu felt she had no choice but to follow him up. As she did, she could practically sense the crowd around her shushing while a few stares shot in her general direction.

"Is that Reimu?"

"Yeah, it's gotta be!"

"Huh, so that's what she looks like."

"I think that hairstyle looks cute on her!"

"I liked the other one better."

"I wanna battle her so bad, I don't care if I lose!"

"I would battle her in a heartbeat!... if I had any Pokemon."

"She scares me…"

"Damn, if only we wasn't lightyears out of my league…"

She just filtered it out at this point. When you become a celebrity, you just learn how to drown out noise like that.

The two were soon at the ticket counter, and as they walked up, Reimu glanced over and saw Gladion in front of the battler's entrance.

"Why do I always end up coming back here?" he grumbled to himself, before pulling the door open and disappearing inside.

Reimu paid it no mind, and looked back towards Hau, who was now talking with the ticket person.

"Hi there!" Hau beamed.

"Well, if it isn't Hala's little grandson!" the ticket guy replied.

"Hey!" Hau pouted. "I'm not little anymore! I'll let you know I'm on my Island Challenge now! My birthday was a few days ago!" He then proceeded to flash his Z-Ring to prove it.

The ticket guy chuckled. "Oh, oh, I'm sorry, little _man _, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm assuming you've got your pass on you?"

Hau pulled a blue piece of paper out of his bag and presented it. "You bet!"

"Alright then! Free popcorn refills and VIP seating, go right ahead!"

Hau was about ready to bounce right in, but then he remembered he had a guest. So he asked the ticket guy if she could sit with him.

"That depends," the ticket guy said. "Is she a family member of some sort? Because otherwise I can't grant -"

"I'm Reimu Hakurei," Reimu spoke up.

The ticket guy froze with his mouth agape for a few seconds, before saying "okay you're in."

Reimu smiled. For once, she could use her fame to her advantage. They wasted no time getting inside.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, after getting their popcorn, candy and drinks and after a brief visit to the restroom for Reimu to powder her nose, the two had plush, front-row seats of the action unfolding in front of them.

"IIIIIIINNN THIS CORNER," the announcer screamed, "HE'S THE ROUGHEST, THE TOUGHEST, HE'S THE BADDEST ROCKER THIS SIDE OF NIMBASA, GIVE IT UP FOR RAAAAAAWK HAAAAAWK!" A huge, musclebound man with an 8-pack, a gigantic mullet, shades and a fake set of wings draping off of his arms walked up, the stage lights focused on him as he arrogantly waved his arms at the jeering crowd, although there were also a few cheers in the audience.

"He's one of the 'bad' battlers that we're supposed to hate," Hau said to Reimu in an aside.

"Is he actually bad?" Reimu asked.

"Nah, he just plays the bad guy. He actually helps out at a homeless shelter in Hau'oli City. The little kids love him."

Reimu took in Hau's words, then looked back up onto the stage, where the other battler was being welcomed in.

"AAAND IN THIS CORNER, YOU ALL KNOW HIM AS THE SUBTERRANEAN ANEURYSM, THE UNDERTAKER OF OREBURGH, THE MAN WHOSE FIST TURNS COAL INTO DIAMOND! PLEASE WELCOME, THE ONE, THE ONLY, CAAAAAAAVE MAAAAAAAAN!" A man covered in dust with a bushy beard and wearing a stereotypical caveman costume, complete with a club, came up as the crowd overwhelmingly cheered him on.

The two battlers stepped right up, looking each other right in the eyes.

"I'm gonna send you back to the stone age!" Rawk Hawk taunted, pointing at Cave Man. The crowd deafeningly booed him.

"Then I'm gonna have to rock you with Stone Edge!" Cave Man shot back to widespread applause. He then wasted no time sending out his Machamp, pumped and ready to fight.

"AMAZING! CAVE MAN HAS NO FEAR AND SENT OUT ONE-PUNCH MON!" The crowd's arms flowed like a wave as its name was called.

"He's called that because they say he can defeat any opponent in just one punch," Hau commented.

"What if the opponent is Ghost-type?" Reimu asked.

"Well, that's the beauty of Battle Royals," Hau said. "Not only can there be up to four fighters, but that ring is also specially rigged so that there are no type matchups, which means everything is equally good against everything else. It all comes down to skill, strength, and most of all how flashy you are!"

Well, she supposed flashy was the right word for it, at least.

Meanwhile, Rawk Hawk wasted no time sending out his Incineroar.

"WHAT'S THIS?! IT LOOKS LIKE RAWK HAWK AIN'T MESSING AROUND! HERE COMES THE BAD CAT HIMSELF, BONESAAAAAAAAAAAW!" Again, most of the crowd jeered, but some cheered him on and pulled out crude, cardboard bonesaws and began "sawing" their arms off.

A few seconds passed where the fighters stared each other down, the hot lights shining down on them, before the announcer called out "ROUND ONE… FIGHT!" The bell dinged, and almost immediately Bonesaw ran right toward One-Punch Mon and hit it with a fierce lariat. The crowd gasped as Rawk Hawk laughed, but instead of flipping onto the floor One-Punch Mon recoiled back a few steps before steadying himself while flexing his glorious pecs. The Machamp waved to the screaming crowd.

"WOW! HIS ABILITY AIN'T STEADFAST FOR NOTHING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

After that, One-Punch Mon slugged a punch, but Bonesaw dodged it. What followed was two minutes of head-butting, grappling and push-downs that got dangerously close at times to resembling furry bara. It also gave Reimu uncomfortable memories of that one time Suika got drunk (well, drunker than usual), blew up in size, then picked a fight with Meiling but insisted that no danmaku be used, with the result being a drunken catfight in which Meiling somehow emerged the victor, but with most of her dress including all of her long underwear being torn up in the process while Eirin treated Suika who had half her skull bashed in. The worst part was that Remilia decided the long pants-less look looked better on Meiling, and so the gatekeeper had bare legs under her dress from then on, and exactly what she wore under there now, if anything, was an unsolved mystery.

After two minutes, and much to the crowd's dismay, Bonesaw had slammed One-Punch down to the floor. The referee started counting down, while Rawk Hawk did something that Reimu wasn't expecting: he pushed the medallion on his head that held up his ridiculous mullet, which turned out to be a converted Z-Ring, and did a roaring pose that caused Bonesaw to be enveloped in Z-Power.

"AND HERE COMES THE FINISHING MOVE!" the announcer blared out. "MALICIOUS MOONSLAUGHT!"

Immediately, Bonesaw leaped onto one of the posts holding up the ring cables and beat his chest while roaring loudly; half the crowd responded with fierce condemnation, still others chanted "Bonesaw! Bonesaw! Bonesaw!" while "sawing" their arms off. He then used his Z-Power to jump impossibly high in the air and dive down toward One-Punch Mon with a T-Shaped bellyflop.

One-Punch, however, had in this time managed to get back up, and looked above him to see Bonesaw raining down on him. But the battered and bruised Machamp had one trick left: thinking quickly, he instantly punched the ground, causing huge, pointed stone spires to emerge from energy rings materializing on the arena floor, right where Bonesaw was poised to land. Bonesaw only had a moment of sheer panic to react before smashing into the stones.

_Right in the nads._

Everyone, Reimu and Hau included, audibly and painfully winced, with some, especially the men, averting their eyes and covering their crotches. The announcer cried out "OOOOOOHH! I DON'T CARE YOU YOU ARE, I THINK WE CAN ALL AGREE, THAT'S GOTTA HURT!"

All that the pained Bonesaw could do was stumble back while covering his nether-region, and before long he hit the cables, flipped over them, and crashed right off the stage. Right after that, the confetti was released, the lights and cameras shined, and a victorious One-Punch Mon held one of his four arms high with his trainer as they were declared the winners. Meanwhile, an embarrassed Rawk Hawk, trying to avert the fan's eyes, recalled Bonesaw and rushed him to the nearest nurse; unfortunately, no amount of instant healing machine was going to remove THAT scar from Bonesaw's ego.

"That was brutal!" Hau said through a mouthful of gummy worms.

"Tell me about it," Reimu grimaced. She didn't even have a "member" and could _still _feel the sheer pain of that attack as if she did. Meanwhile, the crowd's cheers were deafening, with streamers, foam fingers and cardboard bonesaws were flying all over the place.

The announcer picked his mike back up and said, "AAAAAND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IF I COULD HAVE YOUR ATTENTION. I HAVE JUST BEEN INFORMED THAT A HURRICANE IS ON ITS WAY, RIGHT HERE TO THE BATTLE ROYAL DOME."

The crowd instantly silenced. Some people started talking to each other nervously. A hurricane? How bad? Did they need to leave?

"IT LOOKS REAL BAD PEOPLE. FOUR-HUNDRED KILOMETER PER HOUR WINDS, STRONG ENOUGH TO LIFT UP CARS, SWIFT ENOUGH TO MAKE A TALONFLAME LOOK LIKE A SLUGMA, FORCEFUL ENOUGH TO SWEEP YOU RIGHT OFF YOUR FEET!"

Slowly, the dread in the auditorium gave way to hype. Both Reimu and Hau looked around in anticipation.

"AND WHAT'S THIS? INSTEAD OF JUST ONE EYE, IT HAS TWO EYES STARING YOU DOWN!"

The volume of the crowd's cheers increased ever more.

"THAT'S RIGHT, FOLKS! YOU'D BETTER GET OUT OF THE WAY, CAUSE HERE IT COMES! HE'S MR. BATTLE ROYAL HIMSELF! GIVE IT UP, FOR THE _MAAAASKED_**_ROOOOYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!_ **"

Rock music played at top volume as, out of the red corner, all the lights focused on one shirtless masked man, walking down the aisle waving his arms at the crowd, confetti raining down on him and strobe lights dancing all over. Smoke and haze filled the air around him, and as he stepped into the ring he swept around, amping the crowd up even more and making them go crazy.

"See, I told you!" Hau pointed excitedly. "It's the Masked Royal!"

"Indeed it is," Reimu said nonchalantly. She examined him a little more, though, and something clicked in her. "Hey, wait a sec," she asked tilting her head. "Isn't... that -"

"THANK YOU, THANK YOU!" the Masked Royal proclaimed as the crowd died down somewhat… but only somewhat. "What an honor to be back home, right here on this beautiful day in sunny Alola!" The crowed roared and cheered in excitement.

"As you know, I've been all over, lookin' for all the best moves to teach to Pokemon! I believe all Pokemon in the world deserve to be able to whip out the strongest and flashiest moves there are! And today, I bring you…" He threw a Pokeball, and out of it popped a Lycanroc that looked like Suzie.

Instantly, the crowd went nuts, with banners flying everywhere. "BLOODHOUND! BLOODHOUND! BLOODHOUND!" the crowd chanted almost like a cult saying a demon's name.

"That's right!" the Masked Royal called out. "She's got some new tricks! And I invite any challenger out there: if you can beat us in a one-on-one fight, or beat us first in a free-for-all, you get 250,000 Pokedollars!"

The crowd gasped: 250,000 Pokedollars?! To beat HIM?! Sure, that was a lot of money, but literally NO ONE could beat the Masked Royal!

"Who wants to step up and challenge me?" he dared the audience with a glare.

Immediately after making that statement, Hau started messing around with his shirt, turning it inside-out and revealing it to have an owl-like design with fake wings on it, while reaching into his bag and pulling out a mask. He then tossed Hedwig's Pokeball high into the air, jumped onto one of the posts, and struck a low pose while Hedwig landed gracefully on his back.

"WHAT'S THIS?" the announcer said. "IT LOOKS LIKE THE WINGS OF SHADOW HIMSELF HAS EMERGED FROM THE STANDS! WHAT A HIDING SPOT! NO ONE EXPECTED IT! LET'S HEAR IT, FOR NIGHT OWL!"

The crowd started going wild as Hau hopped into the ring and stared down - up? - the Masked Royal.

"Black as haze, quiet as the moon, your tricks are nothing for us!" he gloated.

The Royal, however, waved a finger. "You know wolves hunt at night, right? And tonight, we're hunting you!"

The crowd cheered in response, before, out of the yellow corner, out walked Gladion, clad in gladiator's getup while cheesy Roman-esque music started playing.

"WOW! INCREDIBLE! AND HERE COMES THE BRAVE WARRIOR, WHO STORMED INTO A SECRET LAB UP IN THE ARCTIC, AND GOT AWAY WITH THEIR HORRID CREATION! AND NOW HE COMES TO CHALLENGE THE ROYAL! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, GLADIATOR AND THE EXPERIMENT!"

Gladion, trying to hide his embarrassment, climbed into the ring while waving a hand at his fans, then sent out Type: Null, primed and ready to fight.

"IT'S A THREE-WAY BRAWL, EVERYONE! COULD ANYONE ELSE BE TOUGH ENOUGH, DARING ENOUGH, TO CHALLENGE THESE TOUGH FIGHTERS?!"

This was her cue, Reimu thought. She adjusted her hair tubes and bow, just as she did back home, and made sure her detached sleeves wouldn't fly off or that anyone would be able to look up her dress. Once all that was done, she grasped Gyarados' Pokeball, got up from her front-row seat, and in one deft motion, leaped up spinning around while her legs held together, drilling into the air while the Pokeball flew out of her hands and down toward the ground. She also threw out another counter-spell from her free hand, creating fireworks that twirled all around her.

The announcer hastily picked up his mike again (unknown to everyone, he had porn on on his smartphone that he was glancing at from time-to-time). "IS...IS THAT?!" He was choking on his words. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING! THE RED-AND-WHITE DEATH FROM BEYOND THE WORMHOLE HAS GRACED US WITH HER PRESENCE!"

Just as the announcer finished that statement, the Poke Ball containing Gyarados popped open, and the red-and-white dragon's head stopped Reimu's fall as she twirled gracefully on it with her gohei in one hand, while it rose into the air and towered above all the other contestants.

"AMAZING!"

The crowd basically lost it at this point: one person actually crapped their pants in excitement. "CAN WE PLEASE BOW DOWN, REIMUUUUUUUUU HAKUREIIIIIIIIIII!"

The crowd hoo-rah'd as four incredibly tough fighters faced each other. One was marked for death. The other three were ready for wolf's blood tonight.

Finally, the moment of truth came: "ROUND ONE... FIGHT!"

Right as the bell rang, Lycanroc and Hedwig took toward one another while Gyarados drowned the arena with Twister, hoping to disorient the fighters and make them lose balance. A few moments later, Bloodhound was seen flipping into the air, bird in mouth, and pinned Hedwig to the floor as she began clawing and biting into her.

Just as she could deliver the decisive blow, however, a headbutt came out of nowhere and knocked Bloodhound down to the ground. She looked up, and staring right down at her was a very determined Type: Null, its small eyes cutting through the pitch darkness of the inside of its headgear and glaring right down at Bloodhound's own piercing, rage-filled gaze.

Bloodhound snarled and jumped straight onto Type: Null, and the two started kicking and clawing at each other. Type: Null had the bulk and weight advantage, while Bloodhound had the edge in agility, and most importantly training, allowing her to just barely overcome the lumberound goliath that was Type: Null.

Her concentration was broken the moment a huge tail smacked her into the air, and biting fangs lunged right in her direction. It was Gyarados, with Reimu commanding right from up top.

"Now," she commanded, "bite its neck!" Gyarados did as its master commanded, and gnashed its teeth where Bloodhound was; unfortunately, it only bit into thin air.

Reimu looked around, and saw Bloodhound running right up Gyarados' backside, clawing into the tough scales making Gyarados wriggle around in pain. This is bad, she thought: the fierce wolf was headed straight for her!

Thinking quickly, she made a leap of faith toward safety. Along the way, she actually ended up landing right on top of Bloodhound's head, using it as a springboard off of the sea serpent and onto the ring below. But, she found out too late that she had miscalculated her jump, causing her to flail about (and really wishing at this moment she still had her ability to fly) as she fell more than four meters down to the ground.

...or would have, had Hedwig not swooped out of nowhere to catch her fall, and guide her safely down to the ground.

"AMAZING!" the announcer cried out. "ONE OF THE FIGHTERS HAS SAVED ITS OPPONENT'S OWN TRAINER! YOU DON'T SEE THIS EVERY DAY!"

Hedwig got off to the side as Reimu, kneeled over on the floor, looked up, and staring down at her was the wolf, standing right atop Gyarados' head. She was in a prime position to knock out Gyarados, but instead, it glared at _her personally _. Bloodhound recognized Reimu as the one who bounced off her head, and she wasn't about to let a human be the one that defeated her.

So, snarling and with pure rage, she pounced right off of Gyarados and straight down to Reimu, the lights casting down in such a way as to completely illuminate her, her pointed, glistening teeth, and her huge, sharp claws. Reimu, perhaps reflexively, reached into her bag to get one of the few cards she had that still worked. Sure, it might be against the rules, but she was about to be attacked, and if showing this dog the power of spell cards what what it took to save her skin, then so be it.

Then, suddenly, a string of white, sticky thread grabbed onto Bloodhound, and within mere moments, completely wrapped her up in a cocoon. The dog's snarls and growls were replaced with the muffled sound of whines and whimpers as the thread, and whatever it was attached to, swung the cocoon into the air before letting go. As it flipped in midair and began to fall, a shape leaped high into the air, its front claws poised to attack. It was Type: Null, surrounded in Z-Power. And with its mighty, insectoid claws, it slashed right through the cocoon and crashed onto the ground, creating shockwaves, kicking up dust and even cracking the ring floor as it stood resolute. Bloodhound took the full force of the attack, and unceremoniously fell out of the air and hit the ring floor.

The referee came over, inspected Bloodhound, and made an amazing declaration.

"Bloodhound is no longer able to battle," he said. That simple sentence was enough to sent the crowd off the rails, screaming, cheering and yelling wildly.

Reimu got up and looked around. "What was THAT?" she asked totally confused. As she scanned around more, she saw Gladion flashing a Z-Ring with a light-green crystal on it, and from there inferred the attack's origin.

She smirked.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYEEEEEES!" the announcer yelled. "WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION!" Confetti fell all around Gladion and the stage lights focus all around him and Type: Null. "OUR WINNER, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! _THE EXPERIMENT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNND _**_GLADIATOR!_ **"

The crowd went absolutely ballistic as objects, popcorn bowls and even people were thrown about by crazy fans. Someone beat the Masked Royal, and not only that, that someone was the underdog of the match between him, Reimu and Night Owl!

All Gladion could do was just stare forward.

* * *

"That was flippin' awesome!" Hau said jumping up and down.

"Hmph," Gladion grunted. "You weren't even taking it seriously. Instead, you just let his Lycanroc take down your Dartrix like that," he said snapping his fingers.

"They did say it was tough," Reimu cut in. "I thought you did great out there. I wasn't expecting the Z-Move, that's for sure."

All three were in the back staging area, back in their "street" clothes, away from the prying eyes of the crowd.

"And you," Gladion snapped his head at Reimu. "What were you thinking, getting in the middle of the action like that? You were almost mauled by it!"

"Oh, please, if you thought I was in any danger back there, I'll have you know I've beaten down giant man-eating skeletons with my bare fists before." She slugged a punch at a standing punching bag that was over to one side and knocked it over completely. "A wolf is nothing in comparison."

Gladion hesitated for a moment.

"Now let me ask this," Reimu inquired. "You used a Z-Move back there, which to me suggests there is a bond between you and Type: Null. It also fought more ferociously then it did in our grudge match at the bus stop."

Gladion looked down for a bit, before responding, "I was… going easy on you…"

"No, you weren't," Reimu. "You were going all-out, I could tell. I can tell when someone is giving it their all. You gave it your all here, too."

Gladion was not used to being picked apart in this manner. Usually, he was the one doing the interrogating.

"So what changed between there and here?" Reimu stood with her hands on her hips, shooting an inquisitive look at Gladion.

Finally, he broke. "Okay, okay. I'll be honest. I just…"

"Uh huh…"

"... I realized I wasn't treating my Pokemon with the proper respect. And that I was holding myself back. After you beat me, I understood that, as a trainer, that was my failing. I'm so used to pushing around nitwits at this point, I don't even respect anyone, not even my own Pokemon. When I stepped out on that stage, all the noise and lights everywhere, there were people cheering for me, wanting me to be strong. I'm not used to that. I haven't had that in a long time. So maybe that…" he gripped himself again, clenching his teeth, then regained his composure. "...so maybe that inspired me to do more to be a better person, and a better trainer.

Reimu took all this in for a few seconds, before simply responding with a smile, "excellent."

Gladion suddenly looked confused, the first time Reimu had seen him like that. "What?"

"Me and Hau both knew you were going to be in the fight, and we'd made an agreement before stepping into the ring that we would soften up Bloodhound, but would let you land the finishing blow, however long it took. I could have had Gyarados smash Bloodhound's skull in easily. But, I realized it was important for you to feel empowered, like you actually accomplished something as a trainer and a person, so we wanted to let you have it. And besides, if I went full-force, the match would have been over in like, two seconds, and that's not very fun to watch now is it?"

Gladion was conflicted. On one hand, she _let _him win, and boasted about how easy it would have been to win the match herself. On the other hand, she saw his feelings and insecurities, and knew that he deserved to win more than anyone. For someone who had been mistreated, put-down, and just overall in the dumps for years, this was a huge leap forward for him, having a complete stranger come along and empower him.

However, his train of thought was soon broken when a voice bellowed in from the hallway.

"Gladdy boy~!" A female voice said. And as she stepped into the room, Reimu instantly recognized her.

"Selene?!" she said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just wanted to congratulate my boy-toy~!" She reached around Gladion and gave him a bear-hug.

"Urg, I am not your boy-toy," he grumbled.

Reimu stepped back. "Wait, you know each other?"

Gladion glanced aside. "Let's just say she's my self-appointed girlfriend."

Hau tried hard not to laugh at this point.

"Oh, don't be like that!" Selene said stepping back. "You just beat the Masked Royal and got the whole world shouting your name, and you're _still _acting like ol' mister grumpy pants!" She reached into her pocket, pulled out the 250,000 Pokedollar check and handed it to him. "I told them I was your girlfriend, so they were all like 'sure! We'll let you give it to him!'"

Gladion decided to feign contentment at this point, and gave a _really _half-assed smile. "...thanks."

"That's more like it~!" Selene beamed. She took his hand and said, "now, let's go get something yummy to eat together!"

As Selene led Gladion out of the room, both Reimu and Hau looked forward with blank expressions on their faces, wondering what just happened.

"If I get a girlfriend, will she be like that?" Hau asked awkwardly.

Reimu looked down at him and said, "honestly, I've seen worse. Between girls."

Hau looked away and gagged. Ah, she thought, must've been a wee bit much for the young lad. She chuckled a bit and decided to start heading out of the building, but before she could, another figure caught up with her.

"You must be Reimu!" a male voice said. Reimu turned around, and was surprised to see Rawk Hawk, still in full costume, come up to her.

"Oh!" Reimu jolted in surprise. "I wasn't expecting to see you here!"

"Right back at ya! I heard all about you, but I didn't think I'd see you here today!"

"Well… of course not!" Reimu said somewhat awkwardly. "By the way, how is, er, Bonesaw doing?"

As if on cue, Bonesaw walked into the room to greet his trainer. "He's doing great. Nurse fixed him right up, and now it's like nothing ever happened!"

Of course, Bonesaw's face told another story: wide-eyed, and clearly trying to forget anything ever happened.

"Of course, he's probably never gonna live it down. And neither are the fans. But you know what? Stuff like that happens all the time in Battle Royals, and you just gotta roll with it!"

"Hm, sure," Reimu shrugged. "So, anyway, Rawk Hawk…"

"Nah, just call me Dana, that's my real name." He reached up and grabbed his over-the-top golden mullet, and with a tug simply popped it off, revealing it all to just be a highly convincing wig hiding a short, black buzz cut.

"Whoa!" Reimu jumped back. "That was all fake?!"

"Yup! Pretty surprising, huh?" Dana said in response. "And I also fixed my old Z-Ring around it, so that it looks cool and stays out of the way during fights."

Reimu stepped back up. "Well, I suppose that's very handy!" She was aware of wigs, but had never seen something so sophisticated in her life; the few she had seen were crude rags of hair glued to a sheet of paper that fell off the wearer's head all the time.

Dana set the wig aside. "Part of doing Battle Royals is not just to battle well, but to look good doing it. After all, if people just want to watch a Pokemon battle, they can probably just go out to the boardwalk or something and watch a couple ace trainers duke it out. We stand out by making it larger than life, and since there's no type advantage or disadvantage inside that ring, you can't just win by, say, using Hydro Pump on the other guy's Charizard, so it also challenges you and your Pokemon to use different methods to win the bout. So any technique works equally well, which makes for fights that are more fun to watch, especially if there are four fighters in a free-for all!"

Reimu was genuinely amazed. For all the hamminess and show that Battle Royals had, there was a surprising amount of strategy hidden underneath that worked radically differently than the battles she was used to. She recalled one time when Yukari set up something similar: she put together a special fighting ring together with the kappa in which danmaku and most magical abilities were entirely disabled, forcing physical combat between the two fighters. She even gave people ridiculous outfits to fight in, and the spectators copious amounts of alcohol. It was great fun, and a welcome break from the usual battles. Reimu also enjoyed watching sumo wrestling in the village for the same reason.

"I have a question," she asked Dana. "What do you do with all those cash and prizes you win?"

"Glad you asked!" he answered. "You see, I come from a poor background, and spent most of my childhood without a roof over my head. As I grew older, I realized I didn't want other people to go through what me and my family did, so I got a job at the homeless shelter in Hau'oli City. I do this as a side gig to support the shelter; I donate all my winnings to help them buy new equipment and such. Last year, me and Bonesaw actually won one of the grand circuits and won a gigantic cash prize. I donated it to the shelter, and they used it to help fund an in-house job training and certification program, so people can get skills and go out and find work!"

Reimu smiled and chuckled. "For 'the bad guy,' you sure do bend over backwards to help people. I admire you."

"I think it's more fun that way," Dana replied. "After all, it's only pretend." Bonesaw smiled, then flexed and growled in agreement.

All of a sudden, Reimu felt Sasha's Pokeball rustle around in her bag. "Hmm?" she wondered. "I guess Sasha wants to be let out somehow." She decided to send him out, and as soon as he was free, he went up to Bonesaw and let out an uncharacteristic squeak. Then, Bonesaw knelt down, smiling, and started to pet him with one of his clawed hands while Sasha purred.

"What are they doing?" Reimu asked.

Dana thought for a second, then realized something. "I think they're having some father-son time!"

Reimu was perplexed. "Father-son?"

"Yeah! I actually know Hala, and he told me that he would be giving one of the Littens from a litter that Bonesaw sired away as a starter. And I guess Sasha is that starter!"

"Hm! Is that so?" Reimu answered.

Dana turned back around to Reimu. "I think you've done a great job training him. I think he'll be a really strong Incineroar. In fact, let me give you this!" He reached around, got a red-colored Z-Crystal, and presented it to Reimu.

"What's this?" she asked.

"This is an Incinium-Z! I created it myself to give Bonesaw a flashy signature attack!"

"Amazing," Reimu said.

"Yeah, it was a lotta work. Anyway, once Sasha evolves into Incineroar, then as long as it knows Darkest Lariat, you can give it this, and it can use the powerful Malicious Moonslaught Z-move!"

Reimu took the Z-Crystal, put it away in her bag, and thanked Dana for the gift.

"My pleasure," he said.

As Reimu went to recall Sasha back into his ball, she waved goodbye to Bonesaw.

"Alright Sasha! It's time to get going." Sasha turned toward Bonesaw, gave a powerful, determined cry, and went back into its ball as Bonesaw waved goodbye to his son.

As Reimu left, Dana said behind her, "have great battles wherever you go!"

"Will do," she said back as she left the Royal Dome.

Outside, Reimu looked around for Hau, Gladion and Selene, but didn't see any of them. Must've gone off their own ways, she surmised. It was then that she looked back at the volcano, which towered above the town, gently letting off smoke. It was there that her next trial would occur.

With a determined look on her face, she summoned a ride Tauros, made her way through the crowd until she was at the edge of town, and took off to the north of town to the foot of the mountain to take the challenge head-on.

Watching from a secluded ledge, a spherical energy creature, the same one from Melemele, let out a cackle and flew toward the mountain summit to prepare for her arrival.


	20. Sphere Doomer

It took until late afternoon for Reimu to arrive at the foot of the mountain. Stepping off of Tauros and just as it recalled itself back to HQ, Reimu took one good look up the basalt peak, and the smoke billowing out of the top.

It reminded her of the stories that people in the village would often tell of Mt. Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan as well as one of its most sacred spots. How Mt. Fuji still smoked to this day, because of the letter an emperor had burned in hopes it would reach the moon and get to Kaguya. Reimu had no idea why he would do this, since Kaguya was still on Earth, but the legend persisted.

Reimu had been told by Yukari that Youkai Mountain was volcanically much more active long ago than it was today, with murals depicting smoke and fire erupting from where Lake Suwa and the Moriya Shrine would be now. While she herself certainly did have experience with geysers, hotspots, and the literal flames of Hell, she had never caught sight of an actual, erupting volcano.

Thousands of feet high, she wondered how she was going to actually climb it. Now, normally, this would be as easy as her simply rising up in the air and just flying to the summit, but as she knew, that wasn't possible here. It certainly seemed daunting, with rough, exposed cliffs precariously perched over sheer drops, sharp rocks and shards of obsidian littering the ground, toxic volcanic gases and hot spots, and of course, plenty of Pokemon in between itching to make her ascent all the more difficult.

But, as she knew, there was only one way forward, no matter how arduous. So she took her first, brave step toward ascending the peak.

"You must be Reimu, aren't you?"

"Jah!" Reimu jolted around in surprise. "You spooked me!"

"Sorry about that," a small woman said. Behind her was a rather large horse, held by the muzzle with a rope that the woman had in her hand.

Reimu collected herself before asking, "who are you?"

THe woman introduced herself, "my name is Hapu. And this is my Mudsdale." The Mudsdale behind her brayed. "I assume you're heading up the mountain to Kiawe's trial?"

"Why else would I be here?" Reimu replied somewhat condescendingly. "And you?"

"I watched you at the Battle Royal dome and thought you fought impressively. I also figured you might be coming here, so I followed you."

"Why, are you some kind of stalker fan?" Reimu said sarcastically.

"No, of course not," Hapu chuckled. "I just know that this volcano can be dangerous to climb at times. So I thought I'd offer a little help." She reached out her hand. "Can I see your ride pager for a moment?"

"Uh, sure," Reimu said, digging into her bag and getting out the ride pager. Hapu fiddled around with it for a few moments before giving it back to Reimu.

"I just added Mudsdale to the list of Pokemon you can call with the Ride Pager."

"Mudsdale?" Reimu asked in curiosity. "Is that the Pokemon behind you?"

"Indeed it is," Hapu replied, stroking the horse Pokemon with her free hand. "Mudsdale is very strong. It can conquer rough rocks and terrain that other Pokemon can't cross, and haul very heavy loads. It's not the fastest or most nimble Pokemon around, but its strength and stamina more than makes up for it."

Reimu decided to try out her new addition to her pager by calling a Mudsdale. Almost instantly, one zapped into existence right in front of her, catching her off-guard with its enormous size.

Reimu got help from Hapu hoisting herself up onto the steed, and received some pointers on how to ride a horse, which she had never done before.

"...and to get it to slow down, you pull up on the reins, just like this," Hapu said as she motioned with her arms the pulling motion.

"Got it," Reimu said.

"Good. Now, let's let our trek up the mountain begin." She got up on her own Mudsdale, and led the way up the rough trail in front of them and up the peak.

"So, where you come from? Can you tell me a little more about it?" Hapu and Reimu engaged in some conversation as they worked their way up the mountainside, on the backs of two Mudsdales, as the sun began to lower in the horizon and dusk took over the sky.

"Well, it's... certainly different from here," Reimu explained. "It's actually locked off from the rest of the world by a magical barrier. Nothing can get in, and nothing can get out. It's like that because it's where things no one believes in anymore, or forgets about, or no longer fears or what have you, that's where they end up, mostly Japanese stuff because Japan is where it is, but more than a little stuff from other cultures finds their way there, too."

Hapu nodded, then asked, "now, Japan. What's that place like?"

"Well," Reimu answered, "I hear a lot about somewhere called Johto, and I get told a lot I look like someone from Johto, so I imagine it's like what that place is like."

"Ah yes, Johto," Hapu said. "I once visited there when I was young. It's a very beautiful place, full of old, traditional castles and towers. There's a pair of towers there, in one of the cities. They are the Bell Tower, and the Brass Tower. In the past, they were the roosting places of Lugia and Ho-Oh, respectively. Lugia is an emissary of the sea, and said to be the keeper of the three legendary birds of Kanto, whom it defeated long ago when those three nearly destroyed Kanto. Ho-Oh is an emissary of the sun, and the minder of the three legendary beasts. Legend says that long ago, Lugia, in a fit of rage, destroyed the Brass Tower; ashamed of the damage it had caused, it exiled itself to the sea. Inside the burning brass tower, a Jolteon, a Flareon and a Vaporeon were trapped, and ultimately succumbed to the flames and falling debris.

"However, they say Ho-Oh can resurrect spirits with is seven-colored wings, and that it can resurrect itself when it dies. So it used its power to bring back the three Pokemon, but each in a different form than before: the three legendary beasts, Raikou, Entei and Suicune. The beasts pledged allegiance to Ho-Oh after that, and roamed the land afterwards."

This got Reimu thinking about a similar legend she had heard. "That's funny that you say that, because at home, they tell of a bird like the one you're talking about that can also bring itself back to life, the phoenix. And I know someone who has the power of the phoenix as well."

"I see," Hapu replied. "I suppose our lands are more alike than we think."

Reimu spoke up again, "now, what became of the two birds after that?"

"Well," Hapu started, "both were involved in a couple incidents. I think it was about seven years ago that Team Rocket, a criminal organization that existed at the time, tried to hijack a radio tower in Goldenrod City in order to extort money from the government. One trainer, named Ethan, actually climbed up the Bell Tower and called upon the power of Ho-Oh to put a stop to the siege. He managed to capture Ho-Oh, and with the legendary guardian at his side he easily defeated Team Rocket. He still has Ho-Oh, and they make the rounds in world circuits."

"What about Lugia?" Reimu asked.

Hapu replied, "a couple years after that, Lugia was somehow scooped up by another organization, known as Cipher. Now, just some info on them: Cipher was a rogue scientific organization that stole Pokemon from unsuspecting trainers, then turned them into 'Shadow Pokemon,' who were little more than heartless battling and in some cases killing machines. They said they did this by 'closing the doors to their hearts' - no one really knows what that means, but there are rumors that dark magic of some sort might have been involved. Now, there had already been a time before where a man named Wes and a girl named Rui managed to round up a small collection of Shadow Pokemon, purify them, then shut down Cipher's Orre branch. To keep this from happening again, they created a process that allegedly made Pokemon impossible to purify, with Lugia, under the code name XD01, being their test subject. A boy named Micheal managed to discover their headquarters, storm it, capture Lugia and free all the Shadow Pokemon in the facility. The International Police moved in after that and completely took Cipher apart. Micheal's father had invented a machine that could purify Shadow Pokemon fast, and somehow they were able to purify Lugia this way. Micheal then wanted to release it, but Lugia wanted to stay with him, because it was grateful to him for freeing it. Like Ethan and Ho-Oh, Micheal and Lugia also make the rounds in tournaments these days."

Reimu was amazed. "You know so much about these stories. Where did you learn all that?"

"They're taught in school," Hapu said. "Also, all those stories were all over the news and social media back when they happened. A lot of that sort of stuff is common knowledge, actually."

"I see," Reimu said back. She thought about what she had told Hau earlier, about how the world they lived in had fewer challenges that back home. But, more and more as she dug into the dark underbelly of this world's history and lore, she realized that they did, in fact, face many challenges, albeit challenges with a much different context than the ones she was used to. In some cases, it was perhaps even more perilous, since this world had apparently almost been hit by an asteroid like the one the killed the dinosaurs, the International Police struggled to keep powerful crime syndicates down, and in the past there was also an impossibly destructive war that killed millions. What other dangers lay under the surface, she wondered?

As the two worked their way up the mountain, Reimu caught sight of a small object on the trail in front of them.

"What's that?" she asked Hapu.

"I don't know, we should take a closer look."

As the got closer, Rotom suddenly came out of Reimu's bag.

"Stop, zzt! Don't get any closer!" it warned.

"Why not?" Reimu asked.

"That'zz a baby Kangaskhan! If you mess with it, its momma will mess with you!"

Hapu looked at Reimu. "This is true. Kangaskhan mothers are very protective of their young, and it'd be best never to approach or touch them."

She looked around. "But, I don't see any other Kangaskhan near here. Babies don't usually wander this far from mom."

The baby Kangaskhan wandered about, calling out for its mother. "Perhaps it's lost its mom?" Reimu asked.

Reimu looked at the crying infant, wandering around on the ground. She wasn't at all comfortable with this. This little baby was dangerously exposed out here on its own, and she didn't want to just leave it hanging.

So she dismounted her Mudsdale, reached into her bag, grabbed a berry out of it, and walked up to the baby and knelt down to its level, offering the berry to it. The little baby went up to her slowly, and sniffed the berry in her hand. It stood there for a couple seconds, then, gradually began to nibble on the berry. Satisfied, Reimu gently let go of the berry, and let the baby take it into its own stubby little arms and chew on it some more.

"There you go," she said to the baby softly. "Something to eat."

They watched the baby for a few more minutes as it chewed through the berry, bit by bit, until eventually the berry was gone and pink mush was all over the baby's face and tummy.

"Well," Reimu said smiling, "what do you think?"

The baby stared at her for a few moments, and then burped. Reimu did a spit-take.

"I think she liked it," Hapu confided.

Reimu turned around. "Wait, how do you know it's a she?"

"All Kangaskhan are female," Hapu replied. "Everyone knows that."

All female, huh? Well, Reimu wasn't about to question it, especially if that thing they were talking about back at the ranch about "egg groups" was true.

Also, she still couldn't take her mind off of that Skitty.

The mother still wasn't around, and Reimu knew did not want to abandon the baby here on the mountainside. Unsure what else to do, she hoisted the little one up onto the back of the Mudsdale, then wrapped part of her miko outfit around it to keep it warm.

"What are you doing?" Hapu asked her.

"I just didn't want her to get cold up here, plus a little baby out here on its own with nowhere to hide? It'll get snatched up by other hungry Pokemon!"

As if on cue, a Mandibuzz with a Cubone in its talons flew past them from beneath the ledge.

"See?" Reimu pointed out. "This little baby could have easily been that bird's dinner!"

Rotom came out again and decided to voice its objections. "What if it'zzz mother sees you?"

"Worst-case scenario, Sasha or someone can deal with her briefly so I can return the baby, and then I'll revive her or something so the baby doesn't get scared." She kicked Mudsdale's side to get it going. "Hup!"

"You're so full of yourself, you cheeky little thing!" Rotom snickered before slinking back into Reimu's bag. Both Reimu and Hapu continued up the mountainside, baby Kangaskhan in tow.

The trail past where they found the baby was rough, with many tough sections too treacherous to cross with just hiking boots, and the sharpened basalt rocks and bits of obsidian could slice right through Reimu's sneakers. Fortunately, Mudsdale's hardened, mud-covered hooves crushed all of it with ease, and it was as if they had been crossing smooth terrain the whole time. There were few Pokemon in this section; just some Rhyhorn grazing on grass, and a nest of Fletchling on top of an erratic whose mother had brought a Caterpie. Smoky haze began to envelop the two as they made their way closer to the summit, and small, volcanic hotspots could be seen behind fences posted with warning signs to stay clear; obviously, the Cyndaquil Reimu saw lounging in one didn't quite get the message.

It was an impressive display of wildlife, and it continued to fascinate Reimu how diverse these islands really were. How many ecosystems existed, and how life could find a way no matter how harsh and inhospitable a location seemed.

About a half-hour after picking up the baby, and with the summit of the volcano almost within reach, the two finally came across a small group of Kangaskhan. Rotom, of course, was more than happy to provide a dex entry:

_Kangaskhan, the Parent Pokemon. This odd, armored creature is fiercely protective of its young, and will stop at nothing to keep their young safe in its pouch. Its fists are tough enough to pulverize stone, so staying away is well-advised. It can be found in both mountainous and plains areas. Kangaskhan is a female-only species, and no male equivalent has ever been found._

Reimu could observe the various Kangaskhan wandering around, some playing with their kids (which all varied in age) and others foraging for food. She scanned the area, and eventually locked onto one who did not seem to have her child. She was clearly in distress, as she looked to and fro, but to no avail.

Reimu had to think of a good way to approach this: she wasn't interested in a fight, after all. She decided the best way would be to just let the baby return to her mother on her own. So, she unwrapped the baby, dismounted her ride, and carefully set the baby down onto the ground.

"There you go," Reimu said gingerly. "Now, go back to your mother." She stood back, and after a moment or two of looking around, the baby began to trundle back toward the pack. The lone Kangaskhan soon caught sight of the baby, and wasted no time rushing over to pick her up, love her, and place her back into her pouch.

"See?" Reimu said. "I told you it wouldn't be so bad." Smiling, she got back onto her ride, and they were just about to leave when Hapu pointed back toward the crowd.

"Er, Reimu?" she said hesitantly."

"What is it?" Reimu answered, before looking over her shoulder and realizing the mother was staring right at them. Did she realize they had her baby?

"Oh snap," Rotom said. "Told 'ya."

Reimu could practically feel the blood run cold from her face, especially since she knew Mudsdale wouldn't get her out of there fast enough.

"Okay, breathe," Hapu cautioned Reimu. "If you turn around and run away, that will just trigger Kangaskhan's pursuit instinct."

"Running isn't my plan at this point," Reimu said tensely as she gripped Sasha's Pokeball. The mother Kangaskhan walked over to them; she didn't seem particularly angry, but then, Reimu knew most animals chasing down their prey often held in their anger and rage, much like how a dog intending to bite doesn't usually bark at the target the whole way.

The two were soon face-to-face. Reimu showed no fear, of course, and given her extensive battling resume that included goddesses, demons, Lunarians and whatnot, a wild animal was nothing in comparison. But, she also did not have her normal powers, so even a wild animal seemed highly threatening, especially when said wild animal was an overprotective momma.

"Hah..." Reimu signed. "I, uh, am terribly sorry ma'am. I just wanted to- "

"Gaaao!" The mother raised her arms up and let out a short growl while her baby imitated her. This caused Reimu to jolt back slightly, and she prepared to send Sasha out.

But instead of attacking, the Kangaskhan reached into her pouch, pulled out a small stone, and put it on the back of the Mudsdale Reimu was riding before returning to her clan.

Reimu was confused. "What just happened?"

Hapu laughed, "I think she's thankful to you for returning her child to her."

Reimu slumped. "Heh. I guess." She put Sasha's ball back, then turned around to inspect the stone the Kangaskhan had given her. It was very... peculiar, to say the least. It was perfectly round and polished, like a pearl. It shimmered in all colors of the rainbow, and glassy to the touch. Its defining feature, however, was the distinctive marking within the center of the stone, which resembled a DNA double helix. Reimu spun the stone around in her hand a few times, getting a good look at all angles of it.

"This is a very odd stone," she commented. "I wonder what kind it is."

Hapu came closer to inspect the stone herself. "Hmm, I don't know. I've never seen anything like it before."

Reimu shrugged, and decided to put it in an empty space in her bag. She didn't want to turn down a gift, of course, and maybe she could find a use for it somewhere down the road. Then, both of them waved goodbye to the Kangaskhan pack before making the final push up the mountainside.

Soon, they were near the summit, which overlooked a massive caldera. At the base of the foot trail leading up to the summit was the distinctive Island Trial arch. Twilight fell across the sky, and the faint glow of the caldera gently lit up the near horizon.

Reimu dismounted her steed, which soon recalled itself back to base. Hapu, still high on her horse, looked over toward Reimu.

"Here we are," Reimu proclaimed. "The Fire trial. Gyarados might not know any actual Water-type moves, but hopefully that 4x resistance will come in handy." She looked up the slope, contemplating whatever may be waiting for her just beyond the arch.

"I can't follow you past that arch," Hapu told her. "Everything that happens up there on that trial site is yours to face alone."

Reimu turned to face her. "Thanks for leading me up here."

"You're welcome," Hapu replied. "I'm sure we'll meet again. Hup!" Hapu had her Mudsdale turn around, and head back down the same way they came.

Reimu watched Hapu ride off until she could no longer see her. To her, it was still rather strange, why a complete stranger would be so willing to help her out in this manner. It wasn't just her: quite a few people that she had met were very friendly and nice, with Team Skull grunts being the sole exceptions. She didn't know if it was just islanders here or if the people of this world in general were nice and helpful, but it certainly was a level of friendliness that was absent from her homeland, where it was more or less every man and woman for themselves. Did these people not know fear and hatred because they've never met it?

...unlikely, she thought. Considering all the stories and tales she'd been told, perhaps it was because they've learned to overcome all the darkness and hatred that plagued her world, and there was little left to fear. She wanted to learn how they did it, and if and when she did return home she wanted to take those lessons with her.

But, enough musing, she thought. The sun was setting, and there was a trial to scratch off her list right in front of her. After psyching herself up, she turned up the trail, under the arch, and up to the summit.

* * *

As she crested the last hill, a wide, flat stage with markings on it spread out in front of her. Just beyond, a ledge overlooking the caldera. Unlike the glowing, bare lava she had experienced in former Hell, the lava in the crater was cool and black, with cracks of red spread out like a web. Slabby pahoehoe magma seeped out of one side of the crater, where it trickled down the mountainside, cooled, and cracked forming caked, slabby basalts that Grass-types loved to suck nutrients from before being forced to retreat by more incoming hot magma. Fire-types also drew energy from the hot stuff to power their internal flames.

Standing to one side of the stage was a man, either an older teenager or young adult, standing expectantly. At his feet, three purple Pokemon with skulls over their heads that Reimu had never seen before. Of course, Rotom was more than willing to be "helpful" and spill everything there was to know about them:

_Marowak, the evolved form of Cubone. It carries a bone that it uses as a club to defend itself against predators. This particular Marowak is a form native to Alola. It has learned to accept death as part of its legacy, and has gained the ability to channel spirits and harness their power to strengthen its body and soul. Alolan legend credits it as the inventor of limbo dancing._

Reimu stood just before the center, and the man spoke.

"Good evening. I am Kiawe, and I am the Fire-type trial captain."

Reimu retorted, "Then I suppose you already know who I am."

Kiawe nodded. "To be honest, if it weren't for that girl, what was her name, Lillie, coming here first and telling me about you, then I wouldn't have known who you are. I spend most of my time up here alone. But, I hear you've shaken up the islands quite a bit."

"Ah, yes, Lille," Reimu said. "How did her Pokemon do?"

Kiawe looked aside, trying to contain his stoic expression. "Well... let's just say I humbly request that you not use water for this fight. If that was your strategy, then I'll make sure my Pokemon go easier on you. They're suffering a bit of... trauma, shall we say, at the moment, and will try running off the cliff to get away from just a drop of water."

Reimu pondered if she should ask for more details, but recalling the fate of Hala's Crabrawler, which wasn't even weak to water, she decided that staying in the dark about whatever went down would probably be for the best. So she replied, "well, I don't have any water on me, so let's just get it over with."

"Excellent," Kiawe replied. "Then, let us begin the trial. Come, Marowak!" The three Marowak marched over to the stage, stopping right in front of Reimu.

"What's this?" she asked.

"These Marowak will dance for you twice. Watch the first dance carefully."

After a few seconds, the Marowak began to walk around in circles, twirling their bone clubs with green flames at their tips, before striking a pose. Then, they got back into position.

"Now, watch the second dance."

Again, the Marowak walked around in circles twirling their bone clubs and struck a pose. This time, the middle one held up its bone in the air with both hands like a Tusken Raider, rather than having one hand on the ground and raising the club with the other.

"Now, what difference do you see?" Kiawe asked.

This was too easy, Reimu thought. "Easy. The middle one. It's posing differently." The middle Marowak then became enraged, and suddenly attacked her.

"GAAH!" Reimu yelped as she reflexively sent out Gyarados to meet it. She was about to command it to attack, before she noticed that the Marowak was nowhere to be seen.

"Huh?" Reimu wondered. "Where did it go?"

Kiawe wondered as well, before realizing that the Marowak may have been scared off by a Water-type, not necessarily just water. "I think your Water-type might have scared it off. Perhaps if you used another Pokemon, then it will come back out."

Good idea, Reimu thought. If whatever Adele did was bad enough that the sight of any Water-type, much less Gyarados, would traumatize them, then using someone else would probably be wise. So she recalled Gyarados and sent out Sasha to replace it. It was another Fire-type, she surmised, and he did have Bite, so he could still fight the Ghost-type Marowak effectively.

It didn't take long for the Marowak to come out of hiding behind a rock and unleash its attack. Fortunately for Reimu, and unfortunately for the Marowak, Sasha was way too quick for the Marowak's comparatively sluggish fighting style, and a few Bites was all it too to force its surrender.

Reimu recalled Sasha, and twirled a stick around her finger while she whistled. "Piece-o'cake," she said.

Kiawe stood up. "Impressive," he commented. "That Marowak was so happy you answered right so quickly, it just had to battle you!"

...that was an odd twist of logic, she thought. It was almost as strange as Gensokyo logic. Almost.

"Now, for the second part of my trial," Kiawe announced. "The Marowak will dance for you, once again. This time, the difference may be harder to spot, so pay close attention."

The three Marowak got back into line, waited a few seconds, then did the same routine as before: walking around in circles twirling their clubs. This time, there was a brief, blinding flash that came from... somewhere. Reimu didn't know why a flash happened, it just did. When she looked back, the Marowak had each struck a pose, in a rough triangle around the center of the stage.

"Now, watch carefully a second time," Kiawe told Reimu. Once more, the Marowak danced in circles, there was a flash, and the three Marowak posed in a triangle around the center... and for some reason, there was a big, hairy hiker in the middle of it posing as well.

"Now, what difference do you see?" Kiawe asked.

Reimu decided to go with the obvious. "Well, that hiker wasn't there before..."

"DING DING DING! Correct!" said the hiker. "Now you gotta battle me!" He sent out his only Pokemon, a Magmar. And Reimu went to respond in kind, but decided to ask a question to Kiawe first.

"...is it okay if I use Gyarados for this one?" she asked. She wasn't too sure about the Magmar, it looked tough, and she wanted to risk nothing.

Kiawe thought for a moment, then said, "sure. Just this one battle. I'll hide the Marowak."

"Thank you~" Reimu said in a prim tone before sending out Gyarados to go fight. As it turned out, Magmar put up even less of a fight; its attacks did barely anything, and Gyarados could win by literally just crushing it under the weight of its tail.

The hiker recalled his injured Pokemon, and Reimu recalled her (essentially healthy) Pokemon as well.

"Wow! They were right about you! You're a tough piece of work for someone new!" the hiker said.

"Hm, I suppose." Relatively new she may have been at Pokemon battling, but battling in general? Not so much. If this hiker knew of half her exploits, his mind would be blown out the back of his skull.

She then turned toward Kiawe, who had nothing but praise for her.

"Excellent! My friend David was so impressed by your answer, he just had to battle you!" He then directed his Marowak into the center of the stage one more time. "Now, the last dance. Please watch it closely."

Reimu had a feeling she knew where this was going: the Marowak would dance, and the second one would have the Totem Pokemon in it. That should be easy to spot, she felt, so she just barely paid any attention at all to the dance, which ended in one Marowak pantomiming holding a camera while the other two and the hiker did a pose.

"Now, watch one more time, and spot any differences." Yet again, the Marowak danced, there was a flash, and a pose. Kiawe asked Reimu, "now, what differences do you see in this dance?"

Reimu studied the pose, somehow missing the Totem Marowak, and came up with her answer. "Hmm, is it the two weird flying energy birds behind the Marowak?"

"Amazing! How did you- wait, what?" Kiawe looked, but not before one of the birds dive-bombed him. He was only saved by the Totem Marowak throwing its bone at it, knocking it aside.

Instantly, Reimu sent out Magneton to face the two assailants as well as Rotom to scan them. "Rotom! Can you tell me what these are?"

"Sure thing!" it said. Rotom was always happy to help. Reimu took a moment to study them herself: both were roughly orb-shaped with what appeared to be serrated mouths. One was purple and had two tail feathers, the other reddish-orange and had three tail feathers. Both were pulsating with energy and had shrill cackles and glowing eyes.

She wasted no time directing Magneton to Thunderbolt the two; she had no idea how strong they were, so going all-out and hopefully hitting for weakness would be her best bet. The first shot bulls-eyed the red one mid-dive, causing it to recoil back and charge another attack: shooting a flaming ball at her and Magneton.

Before she could order Magneton to dodge, the shot impacted and absolutely roasted it; if it weren't for Sturdy, it would have fainted right there. Thinking quickly, Reimu tossed a Potion at it, but just as she did, the purple one charged Magneton with enough force to knock it out completely, forcing her to recall it.

Dang, she thought, these things weren't messing around. She instantly sent out Gyarados to meet them; hopefully, the flame attacks from the red one wouldn't hurt as much. Then, realizing she was outmatched, she sent out Sasha as well as backup.

"Jump up there and attack them now!" she commanded Sasha. He instantly obliged, leaping up on top of the purple one and starting to claw it out. The purple one flailed about in midair trying to get Sasha off of it, eventually managing to shake him off and begin its assault.

As those two battled, Reimu directed Gyarados to attack the red one. It was then that Gyarados managed its first Water-type move: shooting a small stream out of its mouth to intercept the red one, again causing it to recoil and charge again.

Satisfied that she was starting to gain the upper-hand, she turned her attention back to Rotom and ask it what it had come up with.

"What's up?" she asked.

Rotom seemed unsure. "I... I'm not totally confident these are actually Pokemon," it confessed.

"Hmm?" Reimu asked.

"I checked by databases, these match no known Pokemon. All I managed to come up with are some working types: Normal/Flying for the purple one, Fire/Flying for the red one. I'm not sure how accurate those are, though."

Reimu was a bit annoyed in that moment. Running into unknown Pokemon was starting to become something of a pattern, she realized. Perhaps they came from beyond the wormhole as well.

She paid it no mind at that moment: all that mattered was swatting them out of her way however she could.

She scanned the area, looking at both of her Pokemon fighting. She decided that using that Max Revive on Magneton would likely be a good idea, and was about to administer it when she noticed something:

The energy creatures had objects inside their bodies, visible whenever their mouths were open.

She looked inside the red one: it possessed a large, red crystal rotating around inside it. The Firium-Z, no doubt, which it snatched for itself and now was using to power its attacks. Killing it would allow her to take it for herself.

Then, she looked inside the purple one. This was harder to do since Sasha had jumped on it again and was biting it, causing it to thrash around trying to shake him off. But, she still managed to catch sight of the inside of it. It looked to her as though there was some sort of round object... hold on, it had blue and black portions... and two appendages... and was making faint 'pew' noises...

The blood ran cold from her face.

"...Nebby?" she muttered.

The creature had managed to shake Sasha off a second time by this point, causing him to roll across the ground, but he steadied himself and was just about to unleash another attack.

"NO! SASHA! DON'T!" Reimu yelled with her arms out. "NEBBY'S IN THERE! YOU'LL HURT IT! STOP!"

Sasha, of course, was very confused: its master did not want it to continue attacking? Sasha wasn't too sure how to process this, but Reimu seemed very insistent that it not attack, so it shifted to more of a defensive-evasive strategy as the creature continued its onslaught, Nebby in tow.

She turned her attention to the fight between Gyarados and the red one. Gyarados was busy shooting twisters at it, but it kept evading its blows. Then, once it sensed Gyarados beginning to tire out, the red one made its move, flying up, wreathing itself in flames, then charging down at the weakened Gyarados hoping to get the last blow in.

Just as it was about to make contact, however, a huge bone struck it and slammed it into the ground. Reimu looked up: it was the Totem Marowak. It looked toward her, and made a gesture similar to a Z-move dance with its hand.

Reimu took a moment to process what this meant, before it hit her. "Right!" She dug into her bag and yanked out the Waterium-Z, then hastily slapped it into her Z-Ring. After quickly refreshing herself on the Water-type Z-dance with Rotom, she activated the ring, then performed the dance waving her arms like the waves of the ocean.

Almost instantly, Z-power flowed from the ring and right into Gyarados, who became absolutely showered in glowing, yellow energy. Gyarados first growled in a low voice, then rose up in the air and bellowed a mighty roar as it prepared to unleash its full-force Z-move.

This roar was loud enough to be heard almost everywhere else on the island, and was even loud enough to pull the attention of one, fluttery island guardian basking in the moonlight, if only for a brief moment.

Soon, Gyarados let loose its own Hydro Vortex; it spun its body around in circles, creating a maelstrom of water which gathered intensity until Gyarados suddenly stopped, and used its tail to throw the vortex right at the red energy creature, which was caught up in it and tossed up and down the waterspout, before it exploded and slammed the red creature into a nearby rock, causing it to go critical and unstable, shooting around wildly for several seconds before exploding in a brilliant confetti of fire and lightning. The Firium-Z it was holding dropped out of the air where it had been and onto the ground.

Instinctively, Reimu went to fetch it. However, just as she was about to claim it for herself, a whoosh of wind knocked her down onto the ground, mussing her up and opening up cuts on her arms and legs.

As Reimu got up and struggled to nurse her wounds, she looked up, and what she saw filled her with foreboding. The purple energy creature, with Nebby trapped inside, sought to take revenge for its fallen comrade. It had a determined look on its face, but so did she, especially as Sasha and Gyarados came to her side, ready to strike back.

The two stared each other down defiantly, Reimu from the ground, gritting her teeth as blood trickled down her leg, and the energy creature, flying through the air at mach speed.

Reimu managed a smirk. She could still control this situation, she realized. She steadied herself, and started to command the two Pokemon to attack.

Then, suddenly, she felt a rustling in her bag. She quickly tried to steady it, but to no avail. It grew more and more restless, and before long, her egg, that she had been carrying since yesterday and had nearly forgotten about, popped right out and bounced around like a demonically-possessed Superball.

"Ah!" she grunted reaching out to it, but the egg had other ideas. It bounded into the air, right into the purple creature's flight path, impacting it on the pointy side right on the creature's face. The impact sent the creature reeling backward in the air, and the egg back onto the ground. Reimu could see that it now had a crack on the pointy end.

After getting control of itself, the creature tried again to attack Reimu, but the egg was having none of it, so it jumped up again and smashed right into the creature's right wing, causing the creature to fall out of the air and crash into the ground. The egg showed further signs still of stress, and cracks formed all across it.

Reimu just sat back and watched the spectacle unfold in front of her. She didn't even have to command her Pokemon, this rambunctious egg was doing all the battling for her. And now it was about to deliver the finishing blow to the weakened energy monster.

The egg quickly bounded over to the creature, then flipped into the air just above it. And it was then, as it flipped in midair, that bright lights shone from inside the egg, shimmering through all the cracks that tore through it until...

"VEE~!"

As bits of eggshell shot everywhere, a newborn Eevee stretched its limbs out in the air, before falling down right down on top of the energy creature. And with one forceful tackle, the creature exploded in a flash of purple lightning, and Eevee flipped onto the ground, landing in a surprisingly graceful manner on all fours in front of the now-freed Nebby.

It took Reimu several seconds to process what she had just witnessed, before adrenaline kicked in and her parenting instincts acted up, causing her to rush to Nebby's aid.

"Nebby! Are you alright?!" she said exasperatedly. She knelt down to the puffball's side, helping it up and spraying it with a potion to try and get its energy back up.

It took Nebby a second to get itself back together, but once it looked up at its savior, it bounded around, shaking its pom-poms, and promptly lodged itself within Reimu's bag.

Satisfied that Nebby was safe, Reimu then turned around and took a good look at her little hero. Even though she was crouched down, the adorable and tiny Eevee looked up at her with a cat grin on its face, twitching its tail from left to right.

"Sooooo... you're what hatched from that egg," she said coolly.

The Eevee just continued to stare at it with its big, glistening eyes.

Reimu looked around, with a blush on her face, then reached her hand out. She let the newborn Eevee sniff it for a bit, before she rubbed between its ears and got an approving chirp from the little... rabbit... cat... dog thing. Eevee was a weird animal; Reimu didn't know what to call it.

A slow clap came from the left, along with the stomps of the Totem Pokemon.

"Well done," Kiawe commended, a certain level of shakiness still in his voice.

"What were those?" Reimu asked him.

Kiawe looked at her, and so did the Totem. "I have no clue. Whatever they were, they were clearly not good, and were definitely after something."

Reimu looked at her bag, where the little puffball was still rustling around. "They were after Nebby, at least."

Kiawe spoke again, "you were willing to give your life for that thing. Can you tell me what's so special about it?"

Reimu paused for a moment, then replied honestly, "well, its just looking for a way to get home. And so am I. If I keep it safe, then we might be able to find that way home together."

Kiawe crossed his arms. "I see." He paced around. "Truthfully, I have never seen anyone battle in quite the way that you do. I've seen people use their Pokemon as tools. Some people command their Pokemon like soldiers. But the way you battle, the way that you're willing to get into the fray yourself, it seemed as though you and your Pokemon all fought together as one. They acted to your will, but not necessarily your commands. And you faced those two strange creatures with no fear."

Reimu shrugged and smiled. "I suppose. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I've dealt with things you wouldn't imagine."

The Totem Pokemon stepped up to her, along with its smaller followers, who danced in step twirling their bone clubs while their leader firmly clutched the dropped Firium-Z in its free hand.

Reimu grasped a Pokeball and prepared to face it. "I suppose now that the circus is out of town, time for the real show to start," she said.

Instead, the Totem simply offered the Z-crystal without a fight, presenting it in front of her.

Reimu was perplexed. This was the second time today that another threat hijacked the trial, she had to put that threat down, and the Totem didn't want to fight after that.

"What is this?" she asked, still confused.

"Ah, simple," Kiawe responded. "Marowak was so thoroughly impressed with how you handled those two bird creatures, that it sees no doubt that you are worthy of the Firium-Z even without fighting it itself."

Reimu decided now was not the time to doubt Marowak's intentions. She reached out, carefully took the crystal from the Totem's hands, and placed it in her bag.

"Gaaooo!" The Totem let out a cry of approval as it and its followers stepped back and Kiawe stepped up front.

"It... might not have gone as intended, but congratulations. You have completed two of three trials on this island. And, you got a new partner as well doing it."

New partner? Oh, the Eevee, which was still looking up at her from down below. Reimu decided to fish out a spare Pokeball and put Eevee inside it. Having already imprinted herself as Eevee's trainer, it gave no resistance and went in as though it were already caught.

* * *

By now, it was almost completely dark, the glow of the caldera and the flare of the torches that ringed the stage being the only light the two of them had.

"Anything else?" Reimu asked.

"Yes, Kiawe said stepping forward. "Let me see your Ride Pager for just a second."

Why does everyone want my ride pager?, Reimu thought as she forked it over. She folded her arms as Kiawe messed around with it for a few seconds before handing it back.

"I just updated your pager so you can now summon a Charizard. It can fly you short distances, so you can get anywhere you need to much faster."

Fly? Did he just say... FLY?

Sure, it likely wouldn't be as effective as the kind of flight she was used to, especially since she had to ride on the back of an animal, but just the thought of being able to soar through the sky once again was enough to make her jump for joy!

She lunged forward and gave him a big ol' hug.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! OMYGOHYOUWOULDNTBELIEVEHOWMUCHIWANTTOFLYAGAIN-"

Kiawe could barely breathe. "G-g-choking, not breathing!" He managed to push her off and catch his breath.

"Hah... hah... wow. Most people are happy for me to give them Charizard, but I've never met anyone THAT excited!"

Reimu put her hands to her side and chuckled. "At home, I can fly all the time. Actually, quite a few people can, but I can do more than that, like fly out of reality altogether."

Kiawe looked up, confused. "You mean... you can just float in the air?"

"Yup," Reimu boasted, "all I want..." She slumped. "...but not here, because I get all my powers from the god of my shrine, and since they're not here, in this world, then there's not much difference between me and a normal person."

She looked up at Kiawe again. "You probably won't know what it's like when you have a bunch of power, only to have them taken away and now all of a sudden you're just a normal person. I've fought a lot of scary and powerful beings, but I probably wouldn't be able to beat them like how I am now."

Kiawe just stared for several seconds, and so did the Totem Marowak, who was still standing behind him.

"I disagree," he said.

Reimu was instantly curious. "Hmm?"

"I watched you fight those two creatures. I'm not sure I would have been able to, or most people for that matter. But you just stepped up to the plate as soon as the threat presented itself, even though you had no idea what you were fighting. And the way you commanded your Pokemon, flowed with them and directed them by instinct, is far past the level of other trainers who have been doing it for years, even though you've only been at it for a few days."

Reimu slumped again, "yeah, but I have to lean on these Pokemon to do most of the fighting for me."

Kiawe thought for a moment, then responded, "well, if what you say is true, then were you not already leaning on some sort of god?"

"Yeah?" Reimu said.

"Then, that would mean you were relying on teamwork in order to fight then, just as you are now. Just you command your Pokemon, you were commanding the power of that god in order to fight. So, not much has changed, other than whose power you wield."

Reimu shot him a stern look. "Are you saying that I can't fight my own battles?"

"No, no, not at all," Kiawe said shaking his hands. "What I meant was, your method that you have developed binds you and your partners to fight as a team, fight as one. You were able to fight and win your battles so easily, because your opponents were either trying to fight alone, or saw their allies as mere tools. You know better. You know how to bond with your partners, and bring out their full strength to crush the competition. If others did the same, then perhaps the playing field would be closer to even."

Reimu thought about these words. Was it all true, she thought? That her true power came from being able to fight and flow with others and bring out all their full power?

Being human, she was, of course, at a massive disadvantage already against youkai, Lunarians and goddesses. Up to that point, however, she just thought that her powers of being able to see and manipulate auras, as well as channel and weaponize the power of the shrine's god was her ticket to success. But what if what Kiawe said was true, and her true strength lie in being able to channel the strength of anything, fight alongside them and use that strength to empower not only herself but also that of her allies?

Yukari had told her, as a child, that the power of gods was directly proportional to the amount of faith they received. At the time, Reimu just thought, well, make sure they get enough faith from the people and keep them happy and strong. But, perhaps there was another dimension, hidden by Yukari's own playful tongue, at play that she wasn't aware of...

She looked back up at him. "I'll consider it."

"I'm sure you will. Nobody wants to see talent like that go to waste."

"Sure," Reimu replied. She turned around, and looked over the caldera just beneath her. The steam of the inner earth vented from the orange fissures between the plates of cooled magma, and the warm glow and heat gently kissed the front side of her body.

"Tell me," she asked Kiawe. "Were these islands born of fire?"

Kiawe stepped forward. "Now that's an interesting question to ask. There have been many myths and legends about how Alola came about. Now, the scientists all say that Alola is parked over some kind of 'hot spot' that pipes magma up to the surface, cools when it meets ocean water, and then when that happens enough an island is born. One legend, however, claims that the islands rose to the surface of the earth because of the influence of the continent Pokemon, Groudon. Either way, you could say that, yes, these islands are born of fire."

This intrigued Reimu, since many old Japanese legends claim that the Japanese islands were also the result of fire and fury from the underworld meeting the surface. Did all land originate from hell, she wondered?

"I see," she told him. "And yet, here the hotspot is, ceaselessly spewing forth blood from the earth, heated by the souls of the damned, the regrets of the forgotten, the fury of the gods, bringing the searing life nectar to the surface and creating a place where diverse life can take hold, growing, then falling back into these gifts from the under to start the cycle anew."

Kiawe looked at her somewhat awkwardly. "Actually... to be honest, this crater was a lot smaller before Lillie came here."

Reimu looked at him, then looked at the crater, and her eyes widened.

She then cleared her throat and looked back at him. "Anyway, it's getting dark, and I can now fly on a Charizard."

"Ah, yes," he said. "There's a very good inn down in Big Blue Harbor. It's on the island's north shore. If you're heading to Mallow's Trial next, that's a good way to get there."

"Alright, got it," she replied as she pressed the button on her Ride Pager, and within a few moments, the familiar roar of the big lizard emanated through the air. And mere moments after that, it was face-to-face with her.

Reimu wasted no time hopping onto the saddle as she waved goodbye to Kiawe. "I think Hau is your next opponent. Tell him I said hi."

"Oh, little Hau, Hala's grandson!" he beamed. "Yeah, I'll do that for you!"

"Alright. Hup!" Reimu kicked the side of the Charizard to get it going, and soon it took off into the air. Reimu looked back down at Kiawe, who was still waving goodbye along with the hiker and Marowak, then looked forward to the north. She scanned the ground, and saw a bunch of lights which lined the shore, which she could tell was the shore because of the abrupt, pitch blackness just beyond the lights. Curiously, she also noticed what appeared to be lights extending into the ocean, some moving at rather high speed, and others lined up like airport runway lights. She paid it no mind, and simply directed Charizard to swoop down the mountainside and toward the town.

* * *

It took just a few minutes, before she was down on the ground just in front of the entrance to the Anchor Inn. She sent Charizard back, then looked up at the sign, which depicted a girl in a sailor outfit sitting on a Dhelmise. It reminded her a lot of captain Murasa, and Reimu reckoned that Dhelmise would be the perfect Pokemon for her.

She went in, got checked in and shown a room without incident, then ate some dinner which consisted mostly of some convenience store sushi she had picked up back on Royal Avenue. As far as sushi went, it wasn't actually half bad. Then, she just screwed around with a while, watching public access TV and studying stuff with Rotom for a while before she brushed her teeth, cut the lights and went to bed, Nebby, Eevee and Sasha all resting at the foot of the bed.

Meanwhile, peering through the window of the room, the little Riolu simply stared at her long into the night before retreating into the bushes.


	21. Big Blue

He galloped up to the castle's entrance along with his knights. The castle, looming large on a hill in the center of Lumiose City, gave off an elegant, regal, but nonetheless intimidating flair that practically dared invaders to try breaking through its formidable defenses, and was so imposing it could be seen for miles around.

The man, however, was no foe. For he was a subject of the king of Kalos, Francois "AZ" IV. And he had bad news to bear.

Approaching the moat, he halted his men, pulled out a horn, and blew into it to signal his presence. The guards, perched along towers spaced along the castle parapet, looked down and, satisfied it was the king's special ambassador to the Novogradians, gave the order to lower the drawbridge and let him and his accompaniment in.

Stepping through the castle's grand hall, he approached the door to the king's throne room, guarded by two of the king's elite royal guards and their Aegislash partners.

"I am the king's special ambassador," he introduced himself.

One guard produced a piece of parchment from a side satchel. "Special ambassador... ah, Lord Cloud. Of course. The king is expecting you." He and the other guard opened up the doors to let lord Cloud in. He went in alone, leaving his accompaniment behind; this was a matter between him and the king alone.

He walked up the luxurious velvet carpet of the throne room, the sides of which were lined with grand stained glass windows depicting past royal families, as well as Xerneas and Yveltal. At the far end, AZ himself was at work at his desk, penning letters and orders to go out to his subjects, each of which was then meticulously sealed by his Floette.

Lord Cloud went up the steps and bowed. "My liege, I bring unfortunate news."

The king turned away from his work. "Ah, lord Cloud. I was beginning to wonder when you would return."

"Yes, of course, sorry for the delay. We had encountered a storm over the eastern mountains," Lord Cloud said.

The king got up from his seat, in the process making his imposing two-meter build known. "What is the news from Novograd?"

"As I said, unfortunate." Lord Cloud adjusted his stance. "The negotiations over the disputed territories have broken down, and they offer no concessions. I fear that hostilities may begin soon."

"As I expected," the king replied. "My family has known the Novogradian tsars for a long time, they are not people to make any concessions." He paced around his desk. "I have already begun sending out orders to all armies to prepare for conflict. I advise you to rouse your own men and Pokemon for battle as well."

Lord Cloud had feared it might come to this. His wife had given birth to twin daughters prior to his leaving for Novograd, and he was concerned of their safety growing up in such an environment. The Novogradians were proud of their vast army, matched only by Kalos's own, and they possessed many allies, as did Kalos. Such a war would be one of the bloodiest the world had yet seen. He knew there would be countless many innocent people and Pokemon killed. And he feared his estate, in Anistar City close to Kalos's fringes, would fall under siege quickly in the event of an incursion.

But, now it seemed there was little choice: he must return home to his waiting wife and children, rouse his men, and stand by for the fateful order. Despite his warrior upbringing - he had assisted his father with subjugating barbarians as a boy - he still believed in the importance of diplomacy as a means of avoiding bloody conflict, and to have failed to stave off a conflict with Kalos's greatest rival was nothing short of a grievous disappointment for him. Therefore, he only sent his men into battle as a last resort. Despite this, he always ensured they were well-trained, making them perhaps Kalos's most formidable army in spite of their lack of service. And now, all that training, and many men for whom this would be their first conflict, would be put to the test.

He wasted no time leaving the castle with his men. By sunset, he was home, rallying his soldiers for war while his wife and mistresses cared for the little girls.

Within days, the Great War, the Pokemon World's biggest, bloodiest, and ultimately final conflict, would begin.

* * *

Reimu's phone buzzed on the bedside table, rousing her from her sleep. Outside, the sun had just begun to break over the horizon.

"What was THAT dream all about?" she wondered. Minutes before, she dreamed that her, Hau and Yuyuko were all engaged in a malasada-eating contest (which Hau still won, despite his opponent being Yuyuko).

She shook it off, shut off the alarm, showered and got dressed for the day, then went downstairs to the continental breakfast. The night before, she had received a text from Lillie, asking her to meet her in front of the Big Blue Harbor Pokemon Center at 8 A.M. for some reason. Reimu decided to use the opportunity to return Nebby to her, as well as catch up with her after having parted ways with her yesterday morning. In particular, she was interested in whether Lillie had many any progress in unlocking the secrets of the Zygarde cube.

The breakfast was okay. Reimu was still getting used to some of the food on offer, such as yogurt and buttered toast. She also swore she had put on a couple pounds since coming to Alola, due to how she was eating better compared to her rather threadbare diet as a shrine maiden back home. She hoped most of it was muscle rather than fat...

Looking around as she ate her food, she noticed something peculiar: she noticed how many of the pictures that decorated the breakfast room depicted people piloting bizarre hovercraft. She also saw parents with children wearing novelty helmets whose visors appeared to only have white spots for eyes that shifted with the wearer's facial expressions, and which had many different designs on them.

She thought about why these peculiarities existed, before she remembered the strange lights that went out into the ocean which she had seen the night before. Perhaps it had something to do with that, she surmised. Perhaps she would go take a look after meeting up with Lillie to see what they were.

After finishing her meal, Reimu checked out of the inn and walked over to the Pokemon Center. As she stepped outside, she found that the Inn, which was parked on top of a bluff overlooking the marina, had a view of what looked to her to be the most bizarre road, going out into the sea and then back, and featuring loop-the-loops, twists and corkscrews. There were even several sections where parts of the road seemed to hang in midair. Reimu wondered just what kind of strange road this was supposed to be. Perhaps some exotic roller-coaster, like the one at the Hau'oli Harbor amusement park, or the ones she had been shown in pictures from the Ouside by Kourin.

Reimu decided to pay it no mind and continue to the Pokemon Center, which was about another five minute walk down the main promenade from the Anchor Inn and the Marina entrance, close to the main road that ran alongside the island's north end. The town itself featured a few high-rise hotels with glassy facades (not surprising, given how almost every major settlement Reimu had been in so far besides Iki Town had them), several shorter buildings and storefronts, and houses and neighborhoods scattered around the southern and western edges of town. What struck her the most, however, was a tall tower, the city's tallest, with a metal globe perched on top with various holographic banners and images proclaiming Big Blue Harbor "the Alolan Home of the G-Zero Grand Prix."

Perhaps that's what the road was for, Reimu thought.

Reimu soon made it to the Pokemon Center, and as expected, Lillie was patiently waiting for her out front. She mostly looked the same as before, although Reimu saw that she had notably ditched her wide-brimmed hat and replaced it with a smaller sun-hat. Standing at her side was a man in a grey lab coat, punching away at a small device on his arm.

"Hey, Lillie," Reimu called out while waving.

Lillie turned around to her. "Well, good morning!" she beamed. "I got you some tea to drink!" She held out a small paper cup with a drinking lid, through which steam wistfully floated into the brisk morning air.

Reimu held out her hand to get it. "Thank you." She took the cup and began sipping on it.

Reimu then turned to the scientist. "Who are you?" she asked.

He turned around. "Oh! Sorry, I was focused on my work." He turned off the device on his arm. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am professor Colress."

Reimu tilted her head. "Another Pokemon professor?"

"Well," he said, "not necessarily. Not like what you're used to thinking of. You probably won't be seeing me give out starter Pokemon to new trainers any time soon," he joked. "Instead, I have devoted my research to finding ways to draw out the potential of Pokemon."

Lillie turned to Reimu. "He lives here in Big Blue Harbor. After you gave me that Zygarde Cube, I went to him to help me figure out out to use it." She reached into her bag, and gently pulled out the artifact and showed it to Reimu. It was glowing slightly.

"When I started walking around with it, I got spooked when a green light shot out of the bush and into my bag. And it just kept happening, so after I got through with Kiawe I came down here and had Colress look at it. And, well, Sina and Dexio were exactly right: Zygarde Cells are attracted to it, and just zip right into it! Colress thinks that if I just walk around some more, I might get enough cells to form a whole Zygarde!"

"Interesting," Reimu said. She decided to look up Zygarde on her Rotom-Dex. What she saw was most interesting:

It could only be described as an otherworldly cobra, constantly ready to strike, and whose entire body was covered in green, black and white hexigonal scales, including its eyes, and whose "hood" more closely resembled a stylized royal collar. And unlike most Legendary Pokemon, there was actually fairly decent data and lore on it. It was listed as Dragon/Ground, and was posited as a mediator between Xerneas and Yveltal - indeed, a few years prior, it intervened in an incident where Team Flare attempted to revive both to unleash the Ultimate Weapon, only to be crushed by the Order Pokemon and driven into the clutches of the International Police by someone named "Calem" before Zygarde split apart and disappeared, but not before leaving behind the Zygarde Cube, the very artifact that Lillie now held in her hands. It even had some moves listed, although the list was limited to what was seen during the incident, including Dragon Pulse and a unique move that was nicknamed "Land's Wrath." Reading through what it was capable of, Reimu had little doubt in her mind that Lillie had a strong partner in her hands.

She put Rotom down, then looked at Colress. "So, draw the power from Pokemon, can you explain what that means?"

Colress looked down for a moment. Personally, he wondered whether he should reveal his time with Team Plasma with Reimu. After all, given everything Ghetsis had done, Colress looked back on his association with him, which he did out of desperation to obtain funding to research Mega Stones and Z-Crystals, with shame, and from what he'd been told, Reimu was a very tough individual with no tolerance for injustice. So, how best could he phrase what he did?

"I'm sure you know now how the bonds between trainer and Pokemon work to bring out the potential of both. And you may also be familiar with how Z-Crystals and Mega Stones -"

Reimu interjected, "Mega Stones? I keep hearing about those, but no one's given me a good explanation."

"Ah, yes," Colress replied. "Mega Evolution. It's a phenomenon associated with Mega Stones as well as what are called Key Stones. It's a very rare occurrence, and only a few Pokemon species and even fewer trainers are capable of unlocking its power. Specifically, if the trainer holds a Key Stone, and their Pokemon holds a Mega Stone that corresponds with their species, and also if the bonds between that trainer and their Pokemon are strong, then similar to using a Z-Move, energy will flow into the Pokemon and cause them to transform into a hidden and much more powerful form. We call these 'Mega Pokemon.'"

Reimu paused and thought. "I see," she said.

Colress continued, "anyway, these artifacts draw out the hidden power of Pokemon, so I'm researching in what other ways a Pokemon's power can be drawn out even more."

Reimu decided to challenge him on this; after all, Kiawe's words to her yesterday were still resonating with her.

"What's your motivation?" she asked. "Why do you want to see how far a Pokemon's power can go?"

Colress but his hands in his pocket. "As a boy, I was always fascinated by how people and Pokemon battled alongside one another, and how that energy translated to fierce battles. As I learned more, I found all there was to know about Z-Crystals and Mega Stones. In particular, I've always wanted to answer an age-old mystery: where did they come from? Why do they affect Pokemon in the ways that they do? If I can answer those questions, then perhaps all that we know about the potential of Pokemon would be turned on its head."

Reimu thought to herself again. Colress had a good point: items that just power up Pokemon in strange ways? Surely, they all had to come from somewhere. But where exactly?

"You make good points," Reimu told him.

"I appreciate it," he replied.

Reimu then turned around to Lillie. There was another point she had to get through.

"Oh, yes, Lillie," she said. "I have something very important to show you." She opened up her bag, and out popped Nebby onto the ground. "I found Nebby yesterday after an... ah... incident." She was hesitant to let Lillie on about the energy creatures she faced yesterday. "It was in extreme danger, so I brought it back to you."

But instead of relieved elation, Lillie gave Reimu a very confused look.

"What is it?" Reimu asked.

"Well, it's nice that you saved it, but I never lost Nebby."

Reimu stepped back. "Wha?"

"Let me show you," Lillie replied. She let Nebby out of the Pokeball that she held it in, and the two puffballs stared at each other for a few moments before Reimu's bopped Nebby with its pom-poms and then laughed at Nebby's misfortune.

"It must be another Cosmog," she said.

Reimu was stunned. Another Cosmog? Was it perhaps brought here the same way she was?

Colress looked down at them, "oh? Cosmogs? I've read about these strange creatures, but I've never seen one in person, let alone two at once."

Reimu decided to pull away the second Cosmog from tormenting Nebby, and held it in her hand.

"You better behave yourself," she smirked. The little Cosmog just pouted. But then Reimu shifted to a more serious tone. "You must be very scared, especially after yesterday. And you must be looking for a way back home."

The Cosmog nodded.

"Well, truthfully, I'm searching for a way home, too. Perhaps if I find it, I can lead you home too."

The Cosmog gave her an approving smile.

"So, how would you like to come along with me?" Reimu offered in a motherly voice.

The Cosmog wiggled around in its arms, waving it's pom-poms around and going "Pew! Pew!"

Reimu smiled. "Great! But, we're gonna have to give you a name to tell you apart from Nebby." She pondered a good name for it for a few seconds, before glancing at it again and realizing all the sparkles that it gave off in the glistening tropical sunlight. It was almost as if it were made of stardust...

"I know!" Reimu said with a lightbulb over her head. "How about 'Stardust?' Do you like that name?"

It stared at her for a second, before smiling and going "PEW!" Reimu took it as a yes.

"Alright then, Stardust it is!" She went to pull a spare Pokeball out of her bag. Realizing Team Skull might come after Stardust as well, she used a plain Pokeball so that Stardust wouldn't stand out. Stardust then went into the Pokeball without a fight, and it clicked, indicating that it was happy with its new master.

Of course, Rotom just HAD to come out of her bag and analyze the new "catch." It added Cosmog's entry to its database, decided it was Psychic-type, and its only moves were Splash and Teleport. Still, Stardust did have a lot of spunk, willing to pick fights against its own well being, which was probably how it wound up getting captured by those two creatures. And the way it rebounded from that ordeal was impressive. Reimu knew she was going to keep it on a very short leash, but Reimu was a disciplinarian, and she was confidant that she could whip respect into it.

She looked at Lillie. "I guess that makes two of us keeping Nebby in the bag." Lillie stifled a laugh. It was then that Reimu noticed Colress interacting with her Rotom-Dex, and wanted to see what was up.

"Interesting," Colress said. "It seems your Pokedex with a Rotom in it is very good at identifying unknown Pokemon." He turned to Reimu. "I actually personally know the woman who came up with the idea. She told me she once had a dream, where her Pokedex as a child interacted with her, like a fairy companion from a fantasy tale. When she woke up, she wanted to make it real, and decided that designing a Pokedex that a Rotom could inhabit was the best way to make it a reality."

Reimu decided to cut in. "So, what is Rotom, exactly?"

Colress, of course, answered. "Rotom is one of the more peculiar Pokemon. Essentially, it's a Ghost Pokemon made entirely out of plasma who loves to possess machines and electronics. For some reason, they show a particular preference for ovens, washing machines, fans, refrigerators, and even lawn mowers. Of course, they can be something very disruptive and cause outages and failures, so a lot of effort is put into mitigating their impact. Most Rotoms you see owned by trainers have permanently possessed something to keep them from spontaneously possess nearby objects at will. But the Rotom-Dex was designed to be the perfect vessel for it, right down to having eyespots and arms. It even gives them the ability to communicate with humans, although all those abilities come at the cost of being able to battle."

"Oh, so that's why it doesn't try to help me with battling," Reimu said snidely.

"Indeed. Despite this, she still sunk several years of her life into perfecting it, and now many trainers enjoy having a fairy companion, of sorts."

Reimu was still uncomfortable with people referring to Rotom as a "fairy companion." After all, she'd seen real fairies, how dumb, weak and childish they were, and how unpleasant it was for humans in general to hang around them. Perhaps if people in the Pokemon world knew the truth, they might think twice, but they don't, so she was just going to have to live with it.

She looked toward the road. "Well, I think this is all interesting, Dr. Colress, but if you don't mind, me and Lillie would like to get going and continue our Island Challenge. Perhaps we can talk again later?"

Colress nodded. "I suppose I should let you go. I was going to ask you if you could help me with something, but I do understand that you are probably more interested in finding a way home."

Reimu nodded, but was struck with curiosity: he needed her help with something? As much as she wanted to continue her challenge and her search, many years of helping others drove her to ask specifically what sort of help he needed.

"Well, what did you want help with?" She asked.

Colress looked off into the distance. Reimu looked in the same direction, and realized he was looking at the over-ocean track.

"Does it have to do with that?" she said, somewhat unamused. "Because I don't think I'm completely interested."

Lillie, on the other hand, begged to differ. "Oh, I think you might. Hau told me all about how you crushed Manine surfing, so I told Colress you might get a kick out of G-Zero Racing!"

Reimu cocked a brow at her. "G-Zero Racing?"

"Yeah! It's a high-speed, high-stakes, high-adrenaline sport that's popular the world over. I just love watching it on the TV, and I've even been to a couple of live races! Cars that float off the ground and go at post-Mach speeds! I just can't get enough of it!"

Sounds more like something Marisa would try her luck with, much less be a fan of, Reimu thought. Heck, the way Lillie was squeeing over it was mostly unlike her timid, reserved character, and was closer to how Marisa often behaved.

Reimu put her hand on Lillie's head. "Settle down there, that will do."

Lillie collected herself. "Oh, right. That was improper, wasn't it?"

After some more hounding from Lillie, Reimu finally caved and had Colress show them to his seaside estate. It was a blocky, futuristic-looking monstrosity surrounded by glass gardens, holo-screens, a fountain and even drones doing all the gardening. Inside the house was no less high-tech, with screens everywhere, a trendy helix staircase, a virtual fireplace and deluxe leather couch set, a completely automated kitchen, and even more drones (and one Beheeyem) doing housekeeping. The whole scene was reminiscent of the way Alice used her dolls to maintain her house.

Reimu looked around, absolutely amazed at everything she saw, and so did Lillie.

"Do you like it?" Colress asked. "I built this house with my own money and inventions. Most of what you see here was designed by me." Reimu didn't know how much money Colress had spent on this place, but it was easily more than she had so far seen in her life. And that was counting the fact that half the money she had ever had so far she earned in just the past few days.

"It's quite the place," she said. Really, words could not do the house justice. "But, why did you bring us here to your house?"

Colress led them to a door on the far side of the front room. "Because I want to show you what I have in the garage." He opened it up, and led the two girls inside.

Unlike the rest of the house, the garage was actually fairly standard, with a bare cement floor, tools strewn about, and off-white overhead lights. Even so, it still had tons of technology in it, including an overhead automated arm that could switch between tools at a whim to work on a variety of projects. The centerpiece of the garage was a shining, slick-white car with blue streaks, tricked out with two external power units, an aerodynamic cockpit, and curiously, no tires.

"What's this thing?" Reimu asked Colress.

"This is my little side-project," he said. "My main field of study is the power of Pokemon, but ever since I was a boy, I've also had an interest in high-speed racing. Of course, my research pushed that to the wayside, but I still wanted to create the perfect racing machine." He waved his arm, and the turntable underneath the craft spun it around until it faced Reimu. "I call it the Plasma Freeze. I spent three years perfecting it. It's equipped with the latest safety and boosting technology. It's also much sturdier than it may seem, because it is made of a new super-tough polymer and comes equipped with Gardevoir-source gravity wells. It looks, feels and drives like a feather, but in fact weighs 2105 kg, heavy enough to knock almost everything else off the track. I designed it as the perfect machine, the first one rated by the G-Zero engineering committee as A-A-A."

Reimu looked around it, how it shined and glistened in the light just above it. Truly, it was a work of art. But, the lack of tires still bugged her.

"Why does it have no tires?" she asked him. "Don't tell me it just hovers in the air."

Colress looked over his glasses frames and smiled. He then pulled out a remote, popping open the windshield and stepping into it before turning the key and starting it.

Suddenly, a blast of heat and steam blew out from under the machine, causing Reimu and Lillie to recoil back while a blue glow emanated from the underside, before, amazingly, the engines flared to life and the machine levitated up into the air.

Reimu stood with her jaw agape, then looked at the scientist in the cockpit, who in turn, cocked his head to look at her.

"Would you like for me to drive you to the track?" he offered.

Reimu couldn't come to a coherent answer. Sure, floating through the air was nothing new to her, but she hadn't yet seen anything in this world quite like the bleeding-edge piece of technology in front of her.

"Uhm, sure," she sputtered. She walked over to the passenger-side seat and climbed in.

Lillie walked toward the door. "I'll meet you guys at the track," she said, closing the door behind her. Colress then closed the windshield, turned the machine around, opened the garage door, and drove out onto the street and toward the racing track.

The ride was short, but very smooth. Cruising down the road at a cool 60 kph, the hovercraft avoided all bumps, potholes, and stray Pyukumuku whose spines could pop tires. The soundproof glass cancelled out most of the hubbub and noise outside, but the closer they got to the raceway, the more that the roar of the crowd that had gathered in the stands just beyond the entrance to the raceway penetrated the cockpit.

They pulled up to the racer entrance, where Colress popped open the windshield in order to talk to the race attendant.

"Checking in for the 12:00 race," he said.

The attendant responded, "oh, yes, Mr. Colress. I'll get you registered straight away." He produced a tablet, spent a few moments punching in some information, then turned back toward him. "Alright, here you go," he said, handing Colress a chip about the size of a CD. "Number 7, pull up to the left."

"Thank you," Colress replied as he did as instructed.

* * *

"Alright Reimu, let's show the world your racing face."

Reimu's voice came through the door to the changing room, "this thing is kinda warm and sweaty..."

"The race starts soon, so we need to get moving."

Slowly, the door opened, and out of the changing room, Reimu stepped out, dressed head-to-toe in the machine's matching blue-and-white racing suit and helmet.

Reimu flipped the sun-visor to see Colress better. "How do I look?"

Colress replied, "well, I did design it for a man, so I apologize if it does not fit optimally."

That did not matter to Reimu too much, since she was kind of a big girl, about 1.7 meters, so it wasn't like it was bagging off of her. The fact that the suit's size could be adjusted at will by Colress helped the suit fit better. All that mattered to Reimu was that they could finally be shown to the track and get this episode over with.

Minutes later, the two were on the track, and Colress showed her all the machine's controls and how driving along the course would work.

"So, if I fall or get knocked off the track, what then?" she asked.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Colress said to her. "This machine is sturdy enough and has advanced course-correction systems that will allow you to stay on the track. But, in the event that you do fall off the track and retire, you will be safely captured and brought to a waiting area until the race has concluded."

Somehow, that was cold comfort for Reimu, who still didn't fully trust that this sport was as safe and fun as he claimed. She was also still wondering how Lillie managed to rope her into this. Speaking of which, Lillie was clearly visible in the stands waving around a foam finger with Reimu's name on it, misspelled of course. But, she was here now, and the fans were screaming at the top of their lungs.

She had to make them absolutely and positively lose their minds from adrenaline poisoning.

As Colress walked away, her attention turned towards the other racers who were beginning to arrive. She had been positioned in middle place as her starting position, so she could see most of the racers around her as the announcer called out their names.

"And now, pulling up to the starting line and hailing from Jubelife City, #21 Volkner in the Bolt Luxray!" It was a yellow car shaped like a lightning bolt. There were others as well: one shaped like a water droplet, another supposedly made entirely out of discarded Metagross husks. One of them even had two cockpits! How did THAT work, she wondered?

After a few minutes, most of the racers had made it to the starting line, although the space next to Reimu's was conspicuously still empty. Perhaps that racer was just running a little late, she thought. She paid it no mind, and just focused on the track ahead, psyching herself up for the high-octane race ahead. But just as she was, that was when all the race queens began pouring onto the track carrying their flags and banners. Reimu stared and winced: how were THOSE outfits even legal? Many had leotards that exposed absolute cleavage, some had short tops and nothing but very thin thongs on the bottom, and others were basically only wearing bikinis. At least hers was comparatively modest: it was just a girl wearing glasses and a stereotypical "hot scientist" getup. So at least Colress had standards, unlike all the other racers.

After the 29 race queens finished their parade across the track, the announcer called out, "all the racers are primed an in position... what's this? One more racer is driving up to the starting line!"

Reimu turned around. Was it the late racer? As their car came up, dark, foreboding-sounding music began playing through the speakers. The machine that was driving up was large, imposing, painted in black and red and covered in tusks and spikes, the number 30 displayed prominently on the sides and front. Its corresponding race queen also paraded across the track, carrying a flag much larger and more threatening than all the others and the queen herself being a dark-skinned, raven-haired woman with face paint wearing an outfit based on a Haxorus, with shoes that looked like Haxorus feet to complete the part.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the force of darkness has arrived! The Black Dragon! The Tusks of Power!" The crowd went wild upon the machine pulling up to the starting line, right next to Reimu's own. The cockpit was heavily tinted, but Reimu could make out a pilot whose helmet completely obscured their face. Apparently, they noticed her as well, because they looked over to her, before focusing on the track ahead.

Within moments, all the machines had revved their engines, including Reimu's. The announcer called out to the audience, "Are you ready for racing?" The crowed screamed and chanted their collective approval, at which point the countdown began.

"3..."

Reimu clutched the control column, her palms covered in sweat.

"2..."

She steadied her nerves, took in a breath of air, and steeled herself.

"1..."

Her foot rested on the accelerator as the machine switched into racing mode. Then...

"GO!"

All at once, the holding gears instantly unlocked, sending the machines barreling down the straightaway at hundreds of kilometers per hour. As Reimu caught herself and refocused on the track, all of a sudden it went straight up into the air. Despite this, the craft stuck to the surface of the track as if the gravity shifted along with it, creating the strange sensation of feeling right-side up, even though she was literally shooting straight up.

Wrangling the throttles, she drifted straight toward the nearest dash pad, rocketing her up the track and onto the next segment: a snake whose gravity was such that you could be on any side and not fall off. She looked up, only to realize she was actually looking down. Fortunately, this was not an alien sensation for her: she often got turned upside-down while flying. What WAS alien was the gravity not behaving like she was upside-down, which threw off her balance as her craft shifted from side-to-side, and in her attempt to steady herself inadvertently got her first KO. As she looked to the side, she saw the machine spinning out and smoking, before a drone teleported in and grabbed it, pulling it to safety down below.

She focused back on the track, hitting one more boosting pad to try and get forward. Unfortunately, she was all the way back in 29th place, which was last place now that that guy was knocked out. Undeterred, she got to the end of the snake, which shook her off and back onto the track now shooting down below onto the recharge pads. Her machine had gotten a little mussed up on the snake, but the shield gauge filled right back up. Back on the surface and on the straightaway, she wondered how she was going to get ahead now that she was in the back, when, as she crossed the line and began her second lap...

"You've got boost power! Booster OK!"

Now was her chance! She hit the booster button, and in a moment, rocketed forward to the next racer. It was then that she got a devious idea: Colress had said that the machine was sturdy and strong. She had accidentally knocked out that last racer the last lap. Now, she was going to do it intentionally. Call it dirty fighting, but it was completely within the rules, and she was used to crushing fairies left and right, so what was really stopping her from doing it?

So, she got right up against the other racer, performed a sideswipe, and knocked the car straight off the course. Excellent, that's one piece of competition down. She went up to the next racer, not much farther up, and did the same thing. And she just kept doing this right up to the snake, boosting as needed to catch up to the other racers and knock them off. She got five KO's this way before hitting the snake.

On the snake, getting KO's was harder, since all the racers were twisting all around it making it harder to see them. Nonetheless, she focused on each racer in front of her, knocking them out as she became able to. At one point, someone tried to knock off another racer but failed, she she finished the job for them. And then she knocked off THAT person as well.

Pretty soon, she was closing up on the lead, right where the Black Dragon was. When she caught sight of it, Reimu saw yet another car flying off the track; no doubt the driver had the same idea she did, and would refuse to go down so easily. So, she did what she always did with tough-looking opponents: hang back for a bit, observe their patterns, then punish any shortcomings in strategy that she could see.

Said shortcomings were not so obvious, until they hit the recharge pads and could start boosting again. At that point, Reimu figured out that the Black Dragon, while it had a higher cruising speed, had a weaker booster than her ship, effectively neutralizing the other's advantage. So, this match was going to come down to a game of wits, and perhaps also serious guts.

At that point, there were no other racers left on the track, all of them having been slammed off the course by either of them, so there was no fear of any competition trying to sneak up past them to claim victory. So Reimu confidently sped up, until she was roughly alongside the Black Dragon outside of sideswipe range, and the two barreled down to the line to begin the last lap.

Hanging in the catwalks above said finish line was the Riolu, which had watched the entire race from its vantage point. It figured out that the white-and-blue machine was Reimu's and had been watching it closely. As the two vehicles neared the line, it could see a trapdoor opening up on top of the Black Dragon, out of which an Exploud crawled out. However, Reimu did not also notice this.

In G-Zero races, racers were allowed to bring along a Pokemon that could be used to try and disrupt the their rivals. Some examples of this included a Thunder Wave user to try and disrupt the vehicle's electrics, or perhaps an Ice Beam user to create a hazardous wall of icicles on the track. The Black Dragon's Exploud, in this case, was well-known for attempting to use Boomburst to disorient opponents and hopefully cause them to careen off the track.

The Riolu, however, was having none of it. It waited until the machines were close, then jumped off the catwalk, using its (still not fully developed) aura-sensing skills to time its drop onto the Plasma Freeze. It did so, just as the machines started the final lap, barely catching onto one of the Plasma Freeze's back fins. It managed to pull itself up to the top, where from there the Exploud faced it from atop the Black Dragon.

Exploud realized it had a foe, one that would try to keep it from doing its job. Exploud were not particularly known for their deductive reasoning skills, but this one knew enough that a small, quick Pokemon such as Riolu could attack it too quickly for it to charge up and unleash Boomburst, and especially because Riolu was a Fighting-type, it wanted to risk nothing, even if Riolu wasn't yet fully evolved. Fortunately for Exploud, it had the advantage of distance, something Riolu lacked, so all it needed to do was pelt Riolu with its ranged attacks and then, once it was clear, use Boomburst to seal the race for its trainer.

So it took to using Flamethrower to try and roast Riolu and perhaps overheat the other vehicle while it was at it, only to find that the flames simply blew off in the other direction due to the racer's high speeds, forcing it to pause for a few seconds while it figured out a better way to try and get rid of its foe. This was difficult, as trained Pokemon rarely acted outside of the direct orders of their trainer and so many were often unsure what to do if their trainer wasn't there to guide them. However, many of the more skilled ones were able to at least act on their trainer's will, and that was what Exploud was trying to do right now. It eventually came to the conclusion that Ice Beam wouldn't have the same problem, so it switched to using that move instead.

The first round of icy energy missed, going off into the ocean below. The second one grazed the Riolu, whose weak but innate aura sending ability enabled it to just barely avoid getting nailed by the attack, which struck the launchpad leading from the straight track to the snake. As the two vehicles hit it, their machines spun around wildly, almost causing their pilots to lose control before their course was corrected by one of the drones. The Plasma Freeze's spinning threw Riolu into the air, where it locked onto the Black Dragon, then landed onto it, this time with more grace than when it had dropped onto the Plasma Freeze.

Now that Riolu was able to close the distance and take the fight to within close quarters, Exploud began to panic, since the only physical move it had other than haphazard kicks and slaps was Crunch, which of course Riolu resisted. Regardless, it tried to push its higher battle experience as much as it could to give Riolu a much harder time trying to hit it, parrying attacks and retaliating with its own. It was a fight neither side was able to win, as they just kept nullifying each other's attacks.

By now, the Black Dragon's pilot was wondering why Exploud hadn't used Boomburst on the other racer yet, so they turned on the topside camera to get a good look above. Once they were able to see what Exploud's distraction was, all it took was a quick flick of the controls to rock the machine enough to cause the lightweight Riolu to fall of the machine's top.

Once Exploud was able to steady itself, it looked around and, satisfied that Riolu was no longer a threat, began to charge up the long-overdue winning Boomburst that would knock Reimu off the track. This happened just as they left the snake and entered the home stretch with the recharge pads, which both racers took full advantage off. All the Black Dragon had to do was use its high top speed to keep pace with the other racer, and that was all that needed to happen to clinch the race.

However, Riolu did not actually fall off the Black Dragon, but instead clung onto the side of the right engine. It hung there for several seconds before shimmying over to the other side, which had some handles it could use to climb up on top. Once it did, it found itself behind Exploud, who was charging up Boomburst, and the hatch to the cockpit off to the side. Moving faster than the eye could see, it used Feint to blow open the hatch, causing Exploud to turn to see what caused it.

It was the one opportunity Riolu needed to land a Force Palm on the unsuspecting Exploud from behind.

Immediately, Exploud recoiled from the super-effective attack, causing it to stumble and fall down the hatch into the cockpit, where it landed right in the pilot's lap, causing them to freak out and steer the Black Dragon straight into a railing. This didn't cause it to crash or retire, but it was a huge slowdown that it wasn't going to recover from in time to cross the finish line before Reimu did. Reimu, who was entirely ignorant of the fight, used her sudden good fortune to use up the last bit of boost she had to zoom past the finish line and into the welcoming cheers of the loudest and rowdiest crowd there ever was.

The Black Dragon's pilot didn't even bother to cross the finish line, instead conceding to second place. The pilot, from the cockpit, witnessed Reimu hopping out of her machine, being lifted up by the crowd, and paraded across the mob chanting her name while lights shone and confetti scattered everywhere.

She could not have been any less proud.

* * *

"You've never raced before in your life, and yet you still managed to come out on top!" The interview lady was all over Reimu and her victory, which was giving Reimu some serious Aya vibes. The fact that said interview lady looked very similar to the crow tengu definitely helped that impression.

"Let's just say I've been cruising on wind ever since I was a little girl." On one hand, she wanted to just tell the whole truth, but somehow maintaining an air of mystique felt more fun, and since she was from another dimension she could play it all the way to the hilt.

"And your strategy, it's just as vicious as the Black Dragon's! What do you have to say to all the racers sitting in the safe area because of you?"

Reimu made a fist, then said, "you see this? I've beaten up gods with my bare hands. Those racers were target practice in comparison, just like my opponents in Pokemon battles." The crowd oooh'd and awe'd in response to this boast. Reimu normally wasn't this arrogant or boastful, but c'mon, it was television. She could do what she wanted.

"I see," the reporter said. "Thank you for the interview." She turned toward the cameras. "That's it for today! Tune in tomorrow for more adrenaline-soaked racing action!"

Leaving the stage and making her way into the staging area, Lillie and Colress greeted her.

"You killed it out there!" Lillie squeed waving her foam finger around. "And that fight... you didn't tell me you had a Riolu! If it weren't for that..."

Reimu stopped her, saying "Riolu? What's that? I don't have a..."

"You there!" A voice came from behind, and all of them turned. It was the Black Dragon's pilot, still dressed head-to-toe in their racing suit.

Reimu put her arms to her sides and smirked. "Oh, hey. I guess you're here to congratulate me?"

"Of course!" they responded. They then removed their helmet, revealing a tan woman with bobbed, dark hair and red eyes.

Lillie's eyes widened. "Woah! Are you really?"

"Yup!" the other pilot responded.

Reimu was confused again. "Who are you?"

The woman chuckled. "Oh, sorry, I didn't introduce myself, did I? The name's Zinnia. And this is my partner, Aster." Exploud ran up to Zinnia's side, bellowing the whole entire way. "And it looks like I get the privilege of meeting the one and only Reimu." She reached out and shook Reimu's hand.

Reimu shrugged. "Pleased to meet you." She pulled back, then asked, "so, you're the G-Zero champ, huh?"

"That's right!" Zinnia replied. "But it looks like I've met my match. I've never seen that kind of skill and cavalier personality since I started racing oh so many years ago." She turned around, and began reminiscing. "You remind me of May back in the day, that day when she hopped on top of Rayquaza and took off into space..."

Reimu cut her off, remembering that story from the museum. "Wait, you were involved in that incident?!"

Zinnia turned around, "oh ho ho, yes, that was one hell of a day. See, I used to be the lorekeeper of the Draconid clan, who worshipped Rayquaza and how it brought peace and stability to Hoenn. My ancestors had long predicted a meteor would strike Hoenn, and when that day came to pass, I did all I could to revive and awaken Rayquaza's true power; however, May proved herself a more worthy partner, especially after she crushed both Team Magma and Team Aqua's plots and bagged Groudon and Kyogre for herself. So she took off into space, busted the meteor, and then as it turned out Deoxys was inside and she bagged that too! So that makes her the lorekeeper now. Having fulfilled my purpose, I went searching for something new to do with my life, and that something was G-Zero racing!" She closed her eyes, then opened them again. "What about you? What kind of stories are you packing?"

Reimu thought about what sort of story would most impress Zinnia, then remembered the recent Lunarian incident. "Well, I guess I do have one. So one day, these machines come down to the surface..."

"...That was amazing!" Zinnia said wide-eyed. "You all went up to the moon and faced off against all these people?!"

Reimu replied, "yeah, I did most of the work, but the others took all the credit. At least Reisen had the whole thing about wanting to return home to protect the only family she had, but Sanae and especially Marisa mostly just raided all the bars and wine cellars in the Lunar Captital while Reisen was left alone with Clownpiece, Junko AND Hecatia at the same time. I was glad after it was all over, because a trip to the Dream World is worse than any drug trip, lemme tell you."

Lillie chimed in, "the way you describe things, Marisa sounds like a really unpleasant slacker."

Reimu turned to her. "That's only because, well, she really is." Everyone laughed.

Zinnia continued congratulating Reimu. "Also, the way your Riolu made an entrance back there and took out Exploud, I don't think I could've scripted that one better myself."

Reimu replied, "Why does everyone keep thinking I have a Riol-"

"Rio!" Something up in the rafters chirped, then clambered its way down the steel beams and hopped just in front of Reimu, looking up at her and staring her right in the eyes.

Reimu looked down, then knelt down to Riolu's level. "Oh. So, you must be the little guy that's been following me around since I got to this island?" Riolu nodded its head.

"Intresting," Colress commented. "This Riolu must sense something in you if that is the case."

The Riolu reached out a paw, and Reimu poked it with a finger. Riolu drew back its paw, then took a stance while it generated blue energy within that paw.

Reimu turned back and asked, "what's it doing?"

Colress stepped forward. "That is no ordinary Pokemon. You see, Riolu, and especially its evolution Lucario, are Pokemon who are very sensitive to the aura of living things. They can sense emotions, and have a degree of extrasensory perception. This one seems to have taken a particular liking to you, so it must sense something within you aura that causes it to deem you a worthy trainer."

Reimu thought about all this for a second before having a eureka moment. She turned around, saying, "well, now that you mention it, one of my other abilities is very similar, sensing and manipulating auras. It's an ability I almost never use, since my flying and youkai extermination powers provided by the shrine are more important, but," she looked at the Riolu once again, focusing her mind so that she could pick up its aura. It was easy to read, and its will was clear: it wanted her to be its trainer. While doing this, blue energy similarly built up in her own hand, just like the Riolu.

"Reimu! Your hand!" Lillie pointed out the energy emanating from Reimu's hand, which Reimu just stared at, the blue energy flickering like a flame in her palm before dissipating.

Zinnia crossed her arms and smiled. "Heh, looks like Riolu sensed a fellow aura-reader! No wonder it wants to be with you!"

Reimu looked back over at the Riolu. "You saved me in the race back there even though I'm not even your trainer. And you've been following me across this island."

The Riolu looked aside and kicked a small pebble, before looking back at Reimu.

Reimu removed a Timer Ball from her back, and waved it around in her hand. "Would you like to make it official? Come journey with me and grow together with me and all my other Pokemon?"

Riolu just stared at her for several seconds. Part of it still wasn't so sure yet if it wanted to be with a person like Reimu since, even though it followed her around the island and saved her in the race, she still intimidated her. And, it also felt like cheating to not test such a capable trainer in battle. But on the other hand, it had already started building a bond with her; to not accept her offer seemed mad.

So it stood there, blank-eyed for a while, before stepping forward with its decision.

"Rio rio!" it chirped.

Reimu stepped back while saying, "I take that as a yes." She threw the Timer Ball at Riolu at full force, snagging it, and the ball bounced on the ground. It clicked instantly.

Reimu went to pick the ball up and put in her bag. "Well now," she said, "that makes a full team of six." She had some other Pokemon as well, but mostly left all of them in the PC just in case. But this team, she felt, was the one that would get her through this Island Challenge.

She looked through the staging area and at the road, then to Lillie. "Well, Lillie, what do you say we head down to that Grass trial?"

Lillie smiled. "Sure... but you'll have to beat me!" She whipped out the Ride Pager, called Tauros, smashed through all the equipment, and down the road.

"Oh you sly little brat," Reimu playfully hissed as she called Charizard to fly her there in an instant.

As the two took off, Zinnia looked toward Colress. "Looks like you found a good test subject. But next time," she flipped her helmet back on, "you're gonna have to beat me yourself."

Colress looked down. "Challenge accepted." He walked out of the staging area toward the Plasma Freeze, then drove back to his house. Zinnia, now alone, decided to go grab a post-race drink and some fried fish for Aster.


	22. Lightning

Down beneath the surface of Gensokyo was a labyrinth of caves and catacombs known only as the Underground. It was location where youkai deemed too dangerous by surface residents, even other youkai, were banished to, and no surface youkai was allowed to venture down there. If one were foolish enough to drop down into this subsurface world, they would probably be brutally killed and eaten by the many deadly and hungry youkai that call this area home, all without being able to see a thing.

If you somehow managed to survive that, there was a fairly good chance that the cold and isolation of the dark, empty caverns would do you in just as well. However, if one were particularly fortunate, they would discover a bridge over an underground river guarded by one woman born of pure jealousy, and they managed to get past her, they would be (un)lucky enough to find themselves in the barren, deserted streets of what was once Hell, before it was moved. Here, vengeful spirits lurk the streets, ready to pounce on whatever mortals they encounter... that is, mortals that can't contain them, which were few and far between. And just beyond this location? A vast hellscape where magma from deep within the Earth coursed through Youkai Mountain's fiery heart, a place where jagged obsidian stalactites and massive olivine crystals threatened to chew up intruders and where no normal human could hope to survive.

Standing between here and former Hell was the tall, wide and imposing Palace of the Earth Spirits, which was once the center of Hell's civilization. Long since abandoned, nature began to retake the palace as species that went extinct in the Outside world roamed free within the mansion's empty halls, and the town's barren streets. Although no longer inhabited by Hell's ruling elite, one youkai took it upon herself to act as the mansion's caretaker. Ostracized from the surface world's society due to her ability to read minds, she found a home in a place where her only companions were animals who couldn't care less; indeed, her ability to read minds allowed her to live with them, interact with them, lead them, and create a family of her own choosing.

She was only known by her species name, and a chosen surname: Satori Komeiji.

Satori made her home in a couple of rooms in the corner of the mansion. Despite having the whole place at her fingertips, she lived a modest life, often spending days without ever leaving her room, a converted study with a makeshift kitchen and connected bathroom. Her room was stacked high with literature, some collected, others written by her own hand. When she wasn't busy staying on top of being former Hell's overseer, she made a living by writing texts, particularly romance and fantasy stories under a pen name. She sold her manuscripts to various human and youkai printers on the surface world by way of a courier, usually her most trusted pet, a kasha by the name of Rin Kaenbyou. A garden out back supplied all she needed to stay healthy, and it was tended constantly by her animal friends. In addition, she would occasionally receive visits from the yama checking up on the evil spirits that lingered and making sure they remained in check.

And check them she did, or at least her animals, all of whom subsisted on evil spirits collected by Rin, or Orin as she was affectionately known. And to sweeten the deal, those spirits were pressed through a machine created by Satori's other right-hand pet, a raven named Utsuho Reiuji, also affectionately named Okuu. Once pressed through, the spirits were shaped more like the food that the extinct animals were used to eating during their time as extant species, making eating them more pleasant. It was a stable relationship: she provided for them, they provided for her, and together they brought some spark of life to the desolate existence beneath the Earth.

Satori had only been vaguely aware of the incident going on above. Given how far down and away she was from the surface, only fleeting whispers of thoughts found their way down to her. This was purposeful, since as much as she was hated for being able to read minds, so she disliked being overwhelmed by stray thoughts, which led to frequent headaches, so the further away from those stray thoughts, the better. But the day the wormhole opened, a cascade of panic and fear made their way down the caverns and into her head, leading her to suspect something had gone very, very wrong. Since then, there had been talk of Reimu going missing, a thought that concerned Satori heavily. So heavily, she had sent Orin up to the surface to find out what exactly was going on.

And she should be back any time now, she thought, closing her book and exiting out the door to go check on her menagerie.

Strolling in between the Dodos and Tasmanian Tigers, and with a flock of Passenger Pigeons flying above, she casually probed their thoughts, just to get an idea of what they thought today. She knew animals were more sensitive to impending disasters than sapient individuals were, and she wondered if the strange activity on the surface had any effect on them at all.

"Yo, so did you hear about Parsee last week?"

"Yeah, dude, apparently she got, like, super hammered and started blabbing on about Yuugi and Yamame and how they were all over her."

"Yeah, like yo momma."

"Aw, dammit!"

"Eh, you know I'm just playing. Hey, you ever seen that movie The Birds?"

"The Birds? Yeah, I saw that movie, and I was like 'good s*** man, I'd love to break outta the Border someday and reenact that whole movie. Be nice revenge, right?"

"Yeah, but what if all the humans start coming at us with those pellet boomsticks like last time?"

"So? We toss around and dodge enough of that s*** on a daily basis, I think I could dodge lead pellets, what about you?"

"Naw, man, I'm gonna be all like Swiss cheese."

"Ah, you're just a pussy. I think those suns that Okuu tosses around are more dangerous than anything a human could-"

"Ah no, why we talkin' 'bout THAT bitch? She hardly counts as a bird! And in any case, there's a big difference between dodging her big 'ol slow-movin' suns and lead pellets. She dumb as all hell, too! I could probably sweep her in a game of Go and I don't even know how to play it!"

"Yeah, that's what I don't get 'bout her. She can recite every meaningless fact 'bout nuclear and theoretical physics there is, but wouldn't know what sex was if she was having it!"

"OOOOOHHH, SNAP!"

...perhaps it was a good thing animals could not talk, Satori thought.

There was a cave near the Hell of Blazing Fires that eventually led up to the surface; Orin typically went this way in order to head to the surface and back, both to collect corpses and bring them back down and act as Satori's courier. Hopefully, she wouldn't be long, given that she had left many hours prior. Of course, Okuu was occupied over at the nuclear reactors which powered the hot springs on the surface, including the one whose soils were now feeding Celesteela, to Okuu's ignorance.

Okuu casually approached Satori at one point.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked.

Satori turned to her, "waiting on Rin. She's been gone a long time, hopefully she's alright."

"Sure she is!" Okuu replied folding her arms behind her back. "She can beat up anything!"

"...heh, yeah, she can." Okuu never ceased to amuse her. "Anyway, you should get back to work. We'll be having deviled eggs and salmon for dinner tonight."

Okuu's eyes widened like plates, "DEVILED EGGS?! YUM!" Instantly she rushed back to the reactors, not wanting to disappoint her master.

Satori was smiling at her when she heard the familiar "MREOW" echo through the cave. Orin had returned at last. Satori turned toward the cave entrance and awaited her coming back down.

A few minutes later, the red-haired kasha floated down the cave with a freshly loaded carriage of corpses and spirits in tow, and a completely exhausted expression on her face.

"Welcome back, Rin," Satori said in a formal tone. "What did you manage to find out?"

"Gimme a second, I gotta put the corpses away first." She tossed aside the cart, which was instantly swarmed with animal helpers dragging it over to the compressor. When she returned, she took a moment to collect herself. "Lotta stuff has gone down on the surface. It might be a couple hours to tell ya everything."

Satori looked aside, and said, "I see. Why don't we discuss this in the banquet hall?"

"Sure thing," Orin said, not really caring about where she sat as long as she got to sit somewhere.

An hour and a half later, Orin had finished her story. Satori was completely horrified.

"Wow. Just, wow. So what you're telling me is that Reimu is missing, people are dead, mysterious beasts are appearing all over the place, and according to Yukari this might only be the beginning?"

"Yeah, that's what she and Okina were goin' on about," Orin replied. "And on my way back, I actually saw one of those beasts. It looked like a giant bamboo shoot, 'cept it was made outta metal and glowed. I also learned from askin' around what the others were like: Yuuka's got a super-buff mosquito-man, Banki's hooked up with a space-clown, Marisa and Alice's kid has a weird samurai paper thing... I also thought I saw a white blur at one point, but it could be my imagination. In any case, this is a very serious incident. Probably more than when Okuu tried to fry the surface, since Reimu was at least around to stop that."

Satori took a few seconds to collect her thought and take deep breaths, but no amount of meditation was going to calm her nerves. Reimu had been sucked out of Gensokyo, and beasts were appearing all over. The wormhole was what scared her the most: literally anything capable of ripping holes in the Border was a major threat, but when said threat could simultaneously punch holes in inter-dimensional space? She wasn't sure such a threat had ever faced Gensokyo before. And she wasn't sure what she could do to potentially help; Okuu might have been her trump card, but not even THAT level of power could compare to what they might be facing here.

She pounded the table, which made Orin jump. "I want to speak to Yukari personally. I want to know what is going on, and what, if anything, I can do to help. This is serious, because that shrine maiden holds Gensokyo, above and below ground, on her shoulders." She got up from the table, went to her room, threw a few decks of spells cards into her bag, then got herself ready to head up to the surface. Although she had been "banished" to the underground, she did have a special agreement with the surface youkai which enabled her to come to the surface during serious incidents, or incidents which her mind-reading skills would make easier to resolve. She hoped at least the first criterion was met, and with beasts running around, maybe she could use her telepathy skills to the fullest to find out what was going on.

She rushed out the door, with Orin closely tailing her.

"Nyaa, should we let Okuu know first?" Orin asked.

Satori turned around, and said, "I think it would be best for now if Okuu knew nothing about this incident. You know what she's like when she gets concerned. Then, if we need to bring her into the incident as a last resort, we can-"

"WARNING. WARNING. OVERLOAD DETECTED IN REACTORS NUMBER 3 AND 5. SCRAM IMMINENT.

Suddenly, the nuclear reactor's automated control system blared all throughout the underground, and caught Satori off-guard.

"Sounds like there's a problem over in reactor control," Satori said. "Let's go check on Utsuho first and make sure she's doing alright."

It took several minutes to rush over to the nuclear power plant section of former Hell, which was lined with several reactors pumping heat, power and steam to the surface. Immediately, Satori could see there was a major problem, since the reactors described were emitting steam and clearly overworking. She looked around for Okuu, wondering what that bird was doing.

A couple minutes later, she managed to find the bird, who was frantically flying around trying to do damage control.

"Okuu!" Satori called out.

Okuu instantly noticed her, and turned to her. "Satori-sama! It's bad! Something's leeching all the power from the reactors!"

Satori ordered her, "shut down all the reactors right now and find the source of the leak. If anything goes critical, it could blow up the underground and sink the entire Youkai Mountain into a radioactive crater."

Okuu did as her master ordered, and slammed her control rod on her right arm into Reactor 1 while the automated failsafe shut down the others. Within moments, power production had stopped, and the situation stabilized.

Satori breathed a sigh of relief, but also understood that the reactors needed to return to work as soon as possible. She asked Okuu to investigate the entire power plant for abnormalities and leaks in the system.

"OKAY!~" she said in her typical stupid voice, as she spread her wings and scouted around.

Satori turned back to Orin. "Well, at least that episode is past us. I'm sure Okuu can handle whatever else comes up and get the reactors running again."

"But master," Orin piped, "what if Okuu accidentally blows something while we're away?"

Satori replied, "Okuu might be a birdbrain in every other way, but when it comes to those reactors, she's the smartest person on Earth. I'm sure she'll find the problem and eliminate it with no issue. Now hurry, we need to head to the surface."

Orin grudgingly nodded in agreement, and the two continued toward the cave exit up to the entrance... only to be pulled back again when a massive surge of electricity followed by a blood-curdling scream belonging to Okuu erupted behind them.

"...you were saying?" Orin snidely said.

As the two made their way back in Okuu's direction, they saw Okuu blasting rounds of danmaku suns at what looked like one of the power distribution nodes. This was highly unusual, Satori thought, given how critical many of these nodes were to the operation of the power plant.

"Utsuho Reiuji! What on Earth do you think you're doing?!" Satori scolded.

"That thing attacked me!" Okuu complained. "I was just checkin' it and it attacked me!"

Satori decided to step into the confrontation, shooing Okuu aside as she went to examine it. If the node really did attack Okuu and she wasn't just being an overreactive idiot, perhaps it most likely had something hiding inside it, or it was possessed by a spirit, or something.

As she got closer, she was suddenly hit with something she wasn't expecting: thoughts.

They were difficult to parse, and had electrical noise contaminating it, but she could make out something: (...scary... scary...)

After pinpointing the source of the Psychic signal, she determined the source to be the "node." She didn't sense any evil spirits inside it, leading her to the conclusion that the node itself was alive and it wasn't a node.

"Okuu," Satori commanded, "stand down. I will handle this myself. I know what's going on."

Okuu did as she was told, dropping her readied shots, landing and folding her wings as Satori approached the "node."

She spoke up, "I'm sorry about my pet's behavior. She just got spooked, and acts like that whenever she gets scared. She didn't mean any harm. And I won't hurt you."

If the node understood her, it didn't show it at first. And then, the spiky white bulb on top of the five wires that were rooted into the ground flashed a few times, before it suddenly went "XURK XURK!" and uprooted itself. Then, it stood on two "legs," with a plug "tail" waving around behind it, standing four meters in the air.

Satori looked up in surprise: even by underground standards, this was a very bizarre creature, like nothing she had seen before. Then after a few moments of thinking, she came to a conclusion: this must be one of the "beasts" that were appearing in Gensokyo. So she just went straight to the point.

"You must be one of the beasts the people in the above world are talking about," she said to it.

She gave it a few moments for it to respond, before more thoughts came through: (...scary bird, scary lady, just wanted food, lots of food...)

"You just wanted lots of food?" Satori replied. The beast then jumped back. (...how did she know? I was just thinking!)

Satori smiled and giggled. "I can read your thoughts. But don't worry, I'm trying to help you."

The beast still recoiled. (...mind reader, scary mind reader lady...)

"I'm honest, I just want to help you! And more importantly, I can talk to you, I can help you out and make you comfortable." A few animals came to her. "All these animals can't talk, but I can hear their thoughts and help them. They trust me. Can you trust me?"

The beast mulled on this for a few moments, then responded to her. (...I'm scared. This place is scary. Fire everywhere. Like electricity. Like lightning. Comfortable with lightning. Lot's of lightning here, lots of food.)

"I see," Satori said. It was naturally frightened by the Hell of Blazing Fires (what wouldn't be?), and in wandering around, found the power plant and started absorbing power as food, hence the reactor overloads. "What brings you here?"

(...was just on top of rock, eating lightning from sky, from ground. Big hole open up, big scary black monster with big claws pulled me out of the ground and threw me into the hole. Hole dumped me here. Looking for way home.)

Satori instantly understood: these beasts were all essentially scared animals pulled from their home habitats by what this being described as a big, scary black monster with big claws. She felt certain it was describing the incident's perpetrator.

"Okay, that's all I needed to know. I'm afraid I can't help you find a way home, but perhaps we could help get you all the food you need without overloading the reactors." She turned to Okuu, still staring at the beast. "Does the solar-power generator still work?"

It took Okuu a few seconds to process this question, but once she realized what Satori was talking about, she replied, "that old thing? I think I put it in a side cavern 'cause it wasn't being used, but it should still work. Just gotta mess with it."

"Thank you," Satori replied.

* * *

Two hours later, the solar power generator was hooked up and a miniature sun inside powering it. The beast was doing THE most adorable wiggly happy dance imaginable.

(...thank you, thank you, much power.)

"I'm glad we could help... uh, what are you exactly?" Satori said.

(...what am I? I don't know, we only know us as eating electricity.) It did this while it slowly went "Xurk Xurk..."

Orin decided to chime in. "I know! It says 'Xurk,' it eats electricity, it looks like a tree, let's call it 'Xurkitree!'"

A few seconds passed, before Satori and Okuu both face-faulted. Then Satori got off the ground braying like a donkey.

"...dammit, Orin!" she choked out laughing. It took a full minute for her to stop her laughing fit, before she fixed herself up and regained her composure, then cleared her throat. "Okay, Xurkitree it is. Do you like that name?"

(...name, name, I have a name, I like name, name is Xurkitree.)

"That's good!" Satori replied. She turned to Okuu once more. "Now, Utsuho, can I trust you to look after Xurkitree and the underground while me and Orin go up to the surface to talk to Yukari and others as well to get to the bottom of this incident?"

Okuu looked at Xurkitree, then looked back at Satori, then looked at Xurkitree again. This thing had attacked her and she reacted violently to it, and now she was being asked to babysit it? And not only that, but also try and manage the Hell of Blazing Fires in Satori's absence, however briefly this would be?

She fluttered over to Satori and latched onto her.

"It's okay," Satori said patting her head, "we won't be long. But I am placing a responsibility on you. You are more in control of your emotions, much more in control, then you were years ago. You are also no longer a child, and I have enough trust in you that you can manage the underground briefly, and look after this lost creature. Can you do that for me, please? This incident really needs my attention."

Okuu groaned. Her little birdbrain still wasn't sure how to handle this kind of pressure. But despite this, there was one constant, and that was her undying desire to make Satori-sama happy. So, she swallowed her apprehension, got up, and made a dramatic pose in the air with her control-rod arm in the air and her wings spread completely out.

"I will control the situation, Satori-sama!"

There was silence for a moment, before Satori chuckled. Cute and simple as Okuu was, she did have a lot of spunk and determination, perhaps a little _too _much on occasion.

"Thank you. I'm sure you two will get along just fine." She waved goodbye to the two, before finally being able to take Orin, in her cat form, through the cave exit and up to the surface, the first time she had done so in countless years, with a grin and smug determination in her face.

...which mostly dissipated the moment her lungs met fresh air for the first time in a long time, causing her to choke and recoil for a few moments before she was able to gimp herself to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, since she sense Yukari's... _unique _aura there. But even then, she had little idea of the ordeal she would soon find herself facing only an hour later, where she, along with many others, would bear witness to history.


	23. Stinger

Reimu and Lillie stared into the jade abyss just beyond the Island Trial arch.

"This is the place, huh?" Reimu remarked.

"Seems like it," Lillie replied.

Dense forests, of course, were not a foreign concept to Reimu, but the lush jungle that she was now faced with was unlike any forest she had ever seen: palm leaves the size of a person. Strange, colorful plants lining the floor and understory. Light filtering through the leaves, which glistened from all the rainfall and moisture on them. It was hot, it was humid. And, of course, it was also home to some truly unique Pokemon.

Eevee certainly was impressed; she (Reimu had found out it was a girl) had taken to sitting on top of Reimu's head rather than staying in her Pokeball. It let out occasional murmurs as its tail twitched back and forth in anticipation.

"...vee vee..."

Reimu reached up and petted her. "It's okay, I'm sure there's nothing too crazy in there. I'm sure you could handle it, you did great yesterday!" Eevee responded to her by giving out a joyful yet confident cry. For something that only hatched yesterday, it did have quite a bit of spunk.

The two girls then walked under the arch, and wandered along the path through the jungle. It was quite an experience for Reimu, who was used to walking through the dark, mysterious, and often cold forests of Gensokyo. The air was humid, the calls of Toucannon and Talonflame echoed through the forest canopy, and to one side, a troop of Passimian were on the hunt for food. Rotom happily filled Reimu in on information regarding all these different species.

Reimu's eyes wandered about, taking in all the jungle's strange and colorful sights. At one point, they drifted upward into the trees, where she saw a Pokemon sitting in the trees, staring right back at her. It looked like a large, bulky monkey of some sort, with white and purple hair and holding a fan...

Oranguru, the Sage Pokemon. This Pokemon spends most of its time in the trees meditating. Occasionally, it will matchs wits with others of its own kind, or its rival Slowking, to determine who is superior. It has the ability to instruct other Pokemon as it wishes, but will also tend to weakened Pokemon.

"...thank you, Rotom," Reimu said rolling her eyes. It was really starting to get on her nerves, even if all it was trying to do was help. Then again, Rotom were known for being huge jerks, a fact that Reimu suspected but never had confirmed for her.

As they walked through the forest, at one point, Reimu could sense that Eevee was getting restless, murmuring more and wagging her tail.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Reimu asked. "Are you nervous? Hungry? What's going on?"

At that point, Eevee jumped off of Reimu's head, ran toward a leafy bush, and barked at it, trying to get Reimu's attention. Reimu realized that Eevee was trying to show her something, so she went over to the bush, examined it, and pulled out a Nugget, much to Eevee's joy.

Reimu held the Nugget in front of her, turning it around in her fingers and letting the light hit different angles of it.

"This is pure gold, isn't it?" Reimu commented.

Lillie went over to her and also took a look. "Goodness! It's actually a Nugget!" She looked down at the smiling Eevee. "Your Eevee has a good nose for treasure, doesn't it?"

"That's for sure," Reimu replied. "You don't just find gold lying around like this every day. I wonder if someone dropped it?"

"I don't think so," Lillie said. "For some reason, you can find random valuable things like Nuggets and Pearls lying around on the ground all over the world."

Reimu continued fiddling around with the gold Nugget while she talked. "Back at home, if you ever found a piece of gold like this, there would be like half a dozen youkai all over you in an instant trying to claim it for themselves. I've had to chase Shou off with my broom a few times because a speck of gold showed up in the creek running behind the shrine." She stuck the gold Nugget inside her bag, put her arm down to allow Eevee to jump back on top of her head, and they continued down the rough path into the jungle.

* * *

A few minutes later, after the two stopped briefly to pick berries (Reimu in particular stocked up on Lum Berries, since she was told those were good for remedying all sorts of conditions Pokemon get), they arrived at a beautiful, tall, and cascading waterfall. The two were instantly taken by its clarity and coolness. Reimu approached it, in the process being gently sprayed by the haze in the air, and the water splashing off of the pot-marked volcanic rock stripped bare behind the crystal-clear water and lining the sides of the pool at the cascade's base. In it, small fish could be seen frolicking around. The sight was mesmerizing, as she reached out one hand...

"Pretty, isn't it?"

Reimu jolted around. "Gaah! Where'd you come from?!"

Mallow stepped forward wagging a finger. "Didn't your momma tell you not to get too close to a waterfall, otherwise you'll slip and fall in?"

Reimu shrugged it off and walked up to meet Mallow. "So, this is your trial, huh?" She looked around some more. "And you picked a really good spot, too."

"I only wanted someplace with the best ingredients!" Mallow told her.

"Ingredients?" Reimu asked, puzzled.

Mallow paced around, then whipped out a ladle from one hand and a bottle of Venom Hot Sauce from the other. "As much as I love Pokemon, being a chef has always been my dream! And this jungle provides endless chances for cooking up something new!" Upon saying this, she popped the cap off the bottle of hot sauce and - much to Lillie's disgust - took a big swig out of it.

"Ahh, that hit the spot," Mallow said. "Just the right level of spiciness and flavor! Wanna try some?" She held the bottle toward Reimu.

"Uh, you're gonna have to give me a fresh bottle, 'cause I'm not drinking that," Reimu replied waving her hands at Mallow.

"No problem!" Mallow beamed as she produced another bottle of the Venom Hot Sauce from seemingly nowhere. Reimu grabbed the bottle and tried some of it.

"And?" Mallow asked impatiently.

Reimu answered earnestly, "it's certainly got some kick to it, but otherwise I thought it was a little bland. It's got nothing on wasabi, alright."

Mallow cocked her head to the right. "Huh. Guess I'll have to find something that'll challenge you."

"Good luck with that, I've eaten the results of Marisa's gruesome mushroom experiments, raw bugs, dirt, and oh yeah, did I mention I can eat hyper-poisonous mushrooms without falling sick? On my kind of food budget, I've had to make do with whatever I can get my grubby little hands on."

Both Mallow and Lillie stared at her, unsure whether to take her boasts seriously or not.

Mallow cleared her throat, and offered her bottle to Lillie. "How about you? Would you like to try some?"

Lillie blushed in fear, and turned away while waving her hands at Mallow. "Uh, no thank you, I'm fine."

"Oh c'mon," Mallow egged while waving the bottle in Lillie's face. "Just a little bit ain't gonna hurt!"

Lillie continued to face away, but eventually decided to be polite, even if it meant having to face the roaring flames of Hell inside of her mouth.

"...okay," she said timidly.

"YAY!" Mallow popped open the cap, then just to make the sauce a little more palatable for Lillie, decided to drizzle it on top of a Mago berry before presenting it to her.

"Here you go! Try it!" Mallow exclaimed.

Carefully, Lillie took the hot sauce-covered berry into her hands, then, took a couple of minutes to collect her thoughts and taking deep breaths, before finally resolving to do the deed.

"(gulp)... well, bottoms up," she grimaced as she opened her mouth and popped the berry right in. She chewed on it for a couple of seconds, all while Mallow and Reimu watched on.

"Well?" Mallow then asked. "What do you think?"

Lillie turned at her, then hacked up the berry and sputtered.

"GACK, HACK, BRAAA-HAAA!" she choked out as bits of the berry hit the ground, before pulling a leaf off of a nearby tree and using it to wipe off her mouth. Once she was done, she looked back up at the other two girls, blushed, and tossed the leaf aside while awkwardly smiling. "Oh, uh, sorry! That wasn't at all lady-like, was it?"

Mallow stifled a laugh while she replied to Lillie, "I see, little too spicy for you?"

"No, it wasn't that at all - I actually quite liked the sauce, believe it or not - but I really dislike overly sweet flavors like that berry! It's why you don't see me eating cakes too often! I prefer savory food and vegetables!"

Mallow was stunned. She held up the Venom hot sauce bottle again, and looked over its ingredients. Something wasn't right: these two girls weren't affected by the spicy flavor, and one even loved it! This stuff was supposed to have over 100,000 Scoville units per serving, unless a serving was like 50 bottles.

She just slumped, tossed the bottle aside, then fixed her posture before deciding to just get to the point: the Trial.

"Um... alright! Let's just get on with the trial then! Oh, but before we do, did I remember to update your ride pagers with Stoutland back in Heahea city?"

Lillie checked her pager quickly before telling Mallow, "it doesn't look like it."

"Ah, I guess it must have slipped my mind," Mallow smiled. Lillie handed Mallow her pager first, which Mallow punched in the auth codes for Stoutland into before handing it back to her. She then did the same for Reimu.

"What's this?" Reimu asked.

"Stoutland!" Mallow answered. "It has a powerful nose that can sniff out all sorts of tasty ingredients, and it can sniff out treasures lying around on the ground as well!"

At this point, Eevee began wagging her tail, and Reimu recalled how Eevee sniffed out the Nugget for her. She then told Mallow, "uh, that's nice, I suppose, but it looks like my little friend here is plenty good at doing that, too. Am I right?"

Eevee called out, then hopped off of Reimu's head again, dove into the bush, and came out moments later with a very pure stick of cassia.

Mallow grabbed the stick from Eevee's mouth. "A stick of rare Alaka Island cinnamon!" She held the stick right up to her nose, took a big whiff to fill her nose with the stick's unique, earthy flavor, and let out a sigh.

She looked at Reimu and Eevee. "You're right! Your Eevee has a really good nose! I haven't seen a stick of wild cinnamon in, well, it's got to have been at least a few months!"

"Good," Reimu replied. "So, what's the trial?"

"The trial," Mallow told her, "has you looking for three ingredients for a stew to lure out the Totem Pokemon. The Totem, you see, is very timid and usually hides deep in the jungle, far away from people and, well, everything else, but it has a good nose for food. Good food, not the Styrofoam crap they serve up at the fast-food burger joints in town, but high-class, gourmet fare that can only be made from ingredients found right here in this jungle." She reached into her pockets, pulled out two folded messages, then handed each of them to Reimu and Lillie, then reached over to a rock and handed them two small burlap sacks. "These are all the ingredients I want you to track down for me, put in the sack, and then bring back so I can cook them in this pot," she said as she tapped a large, stoneware cooking pot over a fire pit.

Reimu read over the list. It called for a Mago Berry, a Tiny Mushroom, a Big Root and a Revival Herb. She decided to start by putting in one of the Mago Berries that she had on her person from berry-picking earlier, then had Rotom pull up an identification guide for each of the others before going off into the forest to go looking for each of the others. As a precaution, she let Sasha out of his Pokeball and walk behind her, just so he could swiftly respond to anything that came up trying to pick a fight.

Reimu's first stop was a small grove surrounding a mossy, volcanic erratic. Tall grass and jungle wildflowers shined in the sunlight, which shined through the clearing in the trees right above.

She looked around for each of the things the list had. The information that Rotom had pulled up told her that Revival Herbs tended to be found in grassy patches in the jungle such as this one, and that they had a rich, dark green hue that stuck out from the generic grasses of the forest floor.

She walked around carefully, gently sifting through the grasses to look for that one revival herb, when she felt Eevee vigorously wagging her tail. She sensed something, alright. She jumped right off Reimu's head, ran over to one side, and began barking right at her. Reimu went over to where Eevee was barking, got a hold of the plant, pulled it right up and, boom, there was the Revival Herb... with a freeloader Fomantis clutching right onto it.

It hopped right off and started attacking her, but was scared off by Sasha before it had a chance to do anything. So, without further ado, she put the herb inside her forage bag, and went off in search of the other two ingredients.

In another area of the forest, it was notably darker and more humid. If she knew anything about those times Marisa had dragged her out on mushroom hunts, it was that mushrooms preferred dark, humid places such as this. According to Marisa, her identification was miserable given the amount of apparently deadly toxic mushrooms she had ingested during their hunts, but again, Reimu's gut was pretty much made out of adamantium, so she didn't really know the difference.

She looked at her guide, and looked up the Tiny Mushroom. It looked similar to the fly agarics that Marisa would often warn her about, but according to the guide, these mushrooms had a rich, umami flavor that was often ground up and added to soups, and that it was sought out by mushroom collectors as a result.

After a few minutes of eyeballing around (and swatting off another Fomanis; geez, those things were all over the place), she found a patch of mushrooms, got on her knees, and began picking through to find the Tiny Mushroom that the list called for. After she thought she found it, she picked it, only to be met by a very miffed Paras, who instantly tried to attack her with her pincers before Sasha gave it the business. She kept searching, and after she was certain she had found it, she put the Big Mushroom into her bag and moved on to find the last ingredient.

She walked through the jungle for a few more minutes. At one point, she noticed another troop of Passimian practicing their combat maneuvers. One of them had emptied out a hard berry rind and was tossing it around like a rugby ball, and the others passed it around each other, with each one throwing the ball in a more complicated manner than the one before it, and the others adjusting their catches accordingly. It really was great fun to watch. At one point, one of them bungled up their catch and was chastised by the leader of the troop. The individual, under duress, ran out and away into the bush.

Guess it couldn't handle their training regimen, she thought. The Rotom Dex did say, after all, that this occasionally happened. It was also said that what happened to lone Passimian after that wasn't 100% known. Interestingly, it also said that Oranguru didn't breed, so how their numbers were replenished was also a mystery. She stood there, thinking for a few moments, and then wondered if there was a connection between the two. After all, she had seen stranger things, even in Gensokyo, so it wasn't entirely inconceivable.

After whacking through the underbrush, she came to another clearing, and was surprised to discover Mallow standing there, looking at a bunch of small trees.

She turned around. "Oh, Reimu! There you are! How's your collection going?"

Reimu shrugged, "alright, I guess."

"You guess?" Mallow giggled. "I can see your bag already has three of the four things you need! And I'm guessing you're here for the big root?"

Reimu looked at her list, on which she had been crossing out items as she collected them. As Mallow said, only the Big Root was left to find. "Uh, yeah," she answered.

"Okay, then, here's what you're going to do." Mallow swept her arm over the grove of small trees. "Each of these trees has a Big Root on it. All you have to do is collect one of them and you'll have everything you need for the stew!"

Reimu looked at the trees. Part of her would have rushed to grab the root and be done with this, but in years of dealing with trickster youkai such as Yukari, her intuition was going off like a Christmas tree. She somehow didn't believe that it wasn't going to be so easy. She had been fooled too many times to know that when someone was simply offering you something with seemingly no consequence, they secretly had something up their sleeve.

"This can't be right," Reimu said shaking her head. "There's gotta be a trick."

Mallow smiled, "oh, but there is! Only one of these trees is real, the others are all Sudowoodo who just look like trees! They'll probably get really angry if you just snatch the Big Root right off of them."

"Is there a way to tell the difference?" Reimu asked.

"When they're impersonating trees," Mallow answered, "it's very hard to tell. But if you feel them, you'll notice that they're not made out of wood, but rock, 'cause they're actually Rock-types! That's why they call them 'sudo' woodo!"

...a rock impersonating a tree. Another one for the book, Reimu supposed.

Reimu took a good look around, and saw eight saplings. Only one of them was actually a tree, the rest were all Sudowoodo, and it was up to her to figure out which was which. She first checked the closest one, and had Eevee check it out. The Big Root was right there on the branch. But just as she was about to feel the wood, the tree wiggled around.

"Sudo!"

Apparently, this one was a little touchy. Fortunately for Reimu, that just made her job a little easier, since she had crossed off one that could be the tree.

She moved on to the next tree, same thing, it was a Sudowoodo. Then the next one. And the next one. Pretty soon, she was down to choosing between two trees that looked almost identical. She felt the bark of both of them, but they felt really similar, cold and gritty. Each had a Big Root sitting right there on top of their branches. One tree was legit, the other a Sudowoodo, and she had to figure out which was the faker.

This was difficult, she thought. One false move and she'd have a really grumpy Pokemon try to swat her with its branch-fists. This looked like another job for Eevee, this time to determine which was a tree, and which was a Pokemon.

Eevee leaped off of Reimu's head, and began sniffing around both of the trees. She sniffed the bases, the branches. She climbed and crawled all over both of the trees trying to get a sign.

Reimu looked at her. "Any luck?"

Eevee shook her head. "...vee vee..." Her ears lowered and she frowned.

Hmm, this was going to be difficult, Reimu thought. Was there any other way she could tell the difference?

She decided to search her bag. Maybe she had a Repel or something that she could spray and it would scare the Pokemon off. So she put her bag down on the ground and began taking stuff out to try and find one. She sorted out her Great Balls, a couple of Ultra Balls, some potions, berries, Paralyze Heals, the TM case and ray gun, the whole nine yards. She took out her Z-Crystals, lying them on the ground carefully to make sure they didn't roll off. This included the Waterium-Z, which she put down on the ground right next to the foot of one of the trees.

"WOODO!" The Sudo jolted, then ran away into the brush.

Reimu's head snapped up from the ground, as she saw the Pokemon run away. She didn't know what she had done to spook it, but that didn't matter now. All that mattered was that the real tree with the Big Root was now right there in front of her. She hurriedly stuffed everything back into her bag, swiped the Big Root off of the sapling, and made her way back to the waterfall to throw everything into the pot and hopefully meet and square off against the Totem Pokemon.

* * *

Once she returned, she was surprised to be met with a crowd.

"Welcome back, Reimu!" Mallow said. Standing beside her were Lana, Hau, Kiawe and Lillie. All were waiting with anticipation for Reimu.

"Lana! Kiawe! Hau! What are you all doing here?!" Reimu was taken aback.

"I just wanted to see you after I got through with Lana," Hau told her.

"Mallow invited us all here," Kiawe said to Reimu.

Lana stepped up awkwardly. "Uh, I came here with Hau after his trial after Mallow called me and asked to come."

Reimu turned to Mallow. "Why'd you call the crowd over?"

Mallow grinned and put her arms to her sides. "You can consider it a cooking show! I wanted everyone to be here to witness the creation of my new, Totem-summoning stew!" She then, from out of nowhere, pulled out what could only be described as a mini flamethrower, and blasted the bottom of the pot while everyone else jumped back in. Seconds later, the fire was on, the water was getting ready to boil, and in front of her, Reimu was presented with a rather large mortar and pestle set.

"Go ahead and throw everything in your forage bag in there," Mallow instructed. Reimu pulled out the bag and did as told.

Mallow then turned to Lillie. "Lillie, go ahead and empty your forage bag." Lillie walked over and dumped hers out.

"Now, Kiawe, Lana, you said each of you had something special to add to the pot?"

Lana came forward first, and in her hand was a sack. "I've been collecting Crabrawler pincers for the past few weeks. I'm sure the meat they contain-"

"Good, throw it in!" Mallow chirped. Lana poured the claws into the mortar.

Kiawe came up next, with a bone. "This is a Rare Bone. One of my Marowaks brought it to me the other day."

"Excellent! Toss it right in!" Kiawe chucked the bone right into the mortar.

At this point, Mallow came up with her own ingredient, a small glass jar of Angry Charizard brand chili powder. "This chili powder is very expensive, and very powerful. It's so strong, you could actually feel it on your skin if you put some there, so it's normally only ever handled with gloves. Very potent stuff!" She then threw off the lid and dumped the whole thing into the bowl.

"Now, go ahead and pound those babies!" Mallow instructed Reimu. And so, Reimu began pounding the ingredients as though she were a moon rabbit pounding mochi. She had picked up a technique or two from Reisen on how to pound stuff in a bowl, even if she wasn't quite the pounding master like the inaba was. After some minutes of relentless pounding, the mix was crushed and powdered to Mallow's satisfaction.

"Wonderful! Now, I think the water should be boiling right about now..." Mallow went to check the pot. "Yup, it is!" She reached over to one side, grabbed a 20 kilo bag of stew mix she had put together that morning containing stock, various bits of stew meat, cut-up chili peppers, random berries, one copy of the Star Wars Holiday Special ("it adds a unique aftertaste" so she claimed), and so on, and emptied it right into the pot before grabbing the bowl from Reimu.

"This mix you've made contains all the essential herbs and spices we'll need to add tons of flavor to this stew!" Mallow enthusiastically tossed the mix in and began stirring it with an enormous bamboo pole, which reminded Reimu of those times when she was invited over to Eientei for their outdoor cookouts, in which they would do essentially the same thing.

Within moments, the stew's sharp, pungent scent began wafting all throughout the jungle, in between the trees and up into the forest emergents. It was so strong, Pokemon with sensitive noses such as Lillipup were sent running the other direction, while Alolan Rattata keen on bringing back tasty quarry to their Raticate masters tried to get near the pot, but were collectively fended off by Sasha, Adele and Mallow's Steenee.

However, the Rattata soon stopped trying to get at the pot. An oppressive atmosphere overtook the jungle. Reimu could feel goosebumps on her skin as something huge maneuvered in between the trees. She heard a snap; a banana tree in the forest getting cut down by something large.

"Uh... guys," Kiawe stuttered. Actually, everyone other than Mallow, who was obliviously still stirring away at the stew, started looking around nervously, even Hau who had already done this trial.

Reimu looked at the pot, then felt her backside shudder and chill as something, something huge, loomed over her. As she looked around left and right, she could see everyone's eyes were as big as dinner plates, and they were all pointing behind her.

"R-R-Reimu..." Lillie sputtered. Slowly, Reimu turned around and...

The Totem Lurantis stood in place shaking for a couple seconds, before collapsing to the ground face first with its arm blades spread on either side.

Reimu jumped back, shouting "what the heck?!"

Mallow turned around, and was shocked at the sight of Lurantis on the ground. Immediately, she panicked.

"OH NO! LURANTIS!" She stopped stirring the pot and rushed over to Lurantis's aid. There, she could see the problem front and center: three gashes on its back, each one purple with poison. Something had slashed it with poisonous claws, and now, not only was it not able to battle, but being a Grass-type Pokemon, there was a very real chance it could die from its injury.

Mallow's face was an expression of pure terror. "Oh no, no no no nonononono! Quick, does anyone have any Full Heals or Antidotes or anything?!"

Reimu, remembering the Lum Berries she had picked, instantly leaped into action. She yanked one of the green berries out of her bag, and also prepared a Hyper Potion to get ready to heal the Pokemon.

"Here! It's a Lum Berry!" she told Mallow.

Mallow took the Lum Berry out of Reimu's hands and instructed Reimu to spray the Hyper Potion on the wound while she administered the berry to Lurantis by gently tilting its head and coaxing the berry into its mouth, then getting it to swallow. They had to be fast; one false move, and Lurantis would be completely incapacitated.

After Reimu sprayed the potion and Mallow fed Lurantis the berry, the two of them flipped it over and attempted to resuscitate it. Reimu, of course, wasn't familiar with Pokemon CPR; thankfully, Kiawe was, and so took over for Reimu in trying to restart Lurantis's heart rhythm while Mallow tried to open its airway.

Reimu inspected the gashes, and it became obvious to her that these gashes were inflicted by another Pokemon; because of the presence of poison, most likely a Poison-type of some sort. She pulled out the Rotom Dex, and searched up and down the entries for Poison-type Pokemon that lived in Alola that possessed claws.

"What kind of Poison-type would be able to inflict this?" Reimu asked everyone.

Mallow turned to her, "I'm not sure. I'm a Grass-type expert, I don't know much about Poison-types that aren't also Grass..."

"I'll bet I could help you," Kiawe said to Reimu. "I studied Poison-types back in the day."

"Okay," Reimu replied. She flipped through the entries some more. "Okay, um, Salazzle maybe? They live on the volcano over there."

Kiawe shook his head. "I don't think so. Sure, Salazzle might live around here and they have claws, but they can't deliver poison through them; they usually emit poison gas from their backs backs and mouth instead. I know because I train one. Their claws are also small and thin, and these gashes are too large and too deep."

"Okay..." Reimu looked some more. "What about Muk? Alolan Muk, that is?"

Kiawe was still iffy about it. "Eh, I don't know. Grimer and Muk aren't known to live in the jungle, and Muk's claws still are not able to produce gashes as deep as these. Maybe something else in the jungle that has a Poison-type-"

Suddenly, there was rustling in the bushes just behind them.

Reimu whipped around with a Pokeball in her hand. "Who goes there?"

A figure emerged from the bush. It was the Medicine lookalike. Somehow, that wasn't a surprise to her. Everyone else, however, turned their attention to her and were struck with foreboding.

"Who is THAT?" Mallow asked.

Reimu rolled up her sleeves and walked right over to the lookalike while answering Mallow, "something that looks like someone I know. And I really think she's behind our Totem Pokemon being in trouble. Stand back, let me deal with this."

Eevee wasn't too sure how to deal with the fake Medicine. Her intuition told it that this figure was much more threatening than anything she had seen so far in her short life. She could just sense the miasma permeating the figure, and couldn't help but growl to try and intimidate her.

"Back so soon?" Reimu asked the figure. "I thought we made it clear that you have no business being here in this world, and that-"

There was another rustle in the bush, right behind the fake Medicine. As this figure emerged, Reimu looked at it, then was immediately silence as she took a step back.

Because this new figure looked strikingly like her.

This fake Reimu was wearing a miko outfit, much like her own, with grey sections replacing red, and possessing pale skin just like the fake Medicine. Unlike her, though, she did not appear to have any partially crystalline sections, instead appearing for all intents and purposes fully organic. Also unlike the fake Medicine, she wasn't wearing a visor or any other sort of eyewear, which revealed expressionless, lemon-yellow eyes. In her right hand was a replica gohei, and a single Pokeball occupied a pocket on her left side.

Everyone behind Reimu was confused and frightened, especially Hau. "W-wh-what's going on? She, she looks like you, Reimu!"

Reimu didn't even register him. Instead, she focused straight ahead toward her doppelganger. The fake Reimu put her hand on the fake Medicine to steady her nerves; Reimu wondered if this meant she was her keeper or master. This struck her as interesting, since she and the real Medicine never had any sort of relationship. Then, the faker turned her gaze to her. Her expressionless eyes reminded Reimu of Kokoro and her poker face, which never ceased to creep her out.

Reimu stood her ground, and refused to show any fear. She held out her hand, which had Riolu's Pokeball. To her side, Sasha clawed the ground and hissed at the fake Reimu, while Eevee growled as menacingly as it could.

"Who are you?" she asked coldly.

The doppelganger did not immediately respond, instead clenching her left fist and looking aloofly down at the ground, before looking back up at Reimu.

"...I..." She managed to get out a syllable. "...I...am..." She clenched her eyes and teeth. Reimu could tell she was having trouble speaking for some reason. She continued to glare at the faker while she and her Pokemon continued to stare her down.

"Who ARE you, and what is your purpose?!" Reimu asked more forcefully.

"...I...am...perfect..."

Reimu tilted her head. "Perfect? You think you're perfect?"

"...creation. I...am...the perfect...creation..."

The fake Reimu put her hand against her forehead while clenching her left hand. To Reimu and the others, it looked like she was in intense pain, somehow. But another thing, Reimu wondered. What did she mean when she claimed to be the perfect creation? Perfect creation of WHAT? The thing that caused this incident?

The fake Reimu then grabbed her sole Pokeball, which was a bizarre design that Reimu had never seen: it was chiefly a blue net-patterned ball with four yellow crests protruding from it. The faker then tossed the ball, which opened to reveal an even more bizarre Pokemon. It looked like a cross between a wyvern and wasp, purple in color with purple, lilac and pink accents, a pair of glowing eyespots, spikes protruding from its shoulders and the sides of its thorax, and a massive stinger tail. This, this must be the Pokemon that injured the Totem Pokemon.

Reimu wasted no time responding in kind to the challenge. "Oh? So we're gonna play this game now? You really should have asked first, Sasha go slash its brains out!"

Sasha did as his master commanded, pouncing on top of the strange Pokemon and clawing at it. However, it did a quick roll to shake Sasha off. So, Sasha decided to use its newly mastered Flamethrower to try and burn it from a distance, but it barely felt an effect. Reimu guessed this meant the Pokemon resisted the attack. So, she inferred it must be Poison/Dragon, given its poison abilities, plus resisting fire and resemblance to a dragon.

If this was the case, then she needed something that could hit it for weakness. Unfortunately, she did some quick brainstorming, and realized it resisted a good chunk of her team: Sasha's Fire, Gyarados's Water, Magneton's Electric and Riolu's Fighting. She could use Gyarados's Dragon Breath to try and hit it, but that was risky since this thing might also be packing a Dragon move.

So she took a chance and recalled Sasha, sending out Gyarados and immediately instructing the use of Dragon Breath. Gyarados then carried out this order, spewing acrid breath onto the mystery Pokemon. It was a direct, effective hit, and the Pokemon recoiled backwards. So Reimu readied Gyarados for another attack.

It was at this point, however, that the other Pokemon positioned its stinger like a cannon, while the fake Reimu commanded it. At the end of the stinger, a royal blue-and-red energy ball charged up, then fired at Gyarados, hitting it square in the face extremely hard - Dragon Pulse, Rotom identified the move as.

"Dammit!" Reimu clenched her fist. Sure, the other Reimu was clearly inexperienced at battling, and this Pokemon was slow to react as a result - Reimu could infer that it was capable of acting far more quickly and tactfully if it wanted to. Even so, she was at a loss for how to get past it, just because its typing and strategy was just so plain weird and, once again, Rotom had no data on the moves it could learn. All she knew so far for sure was that it was packing Dragon Pulse.

Thinking things over, she decided that Magneton would be her best bet against this thing, just like with the previous strange purple creature, which Rotom had since named Poipole for some reason. Actually, this creature before her looked very similar to that one, having similar coloring and its thorax even looked like Poipole's head. An evolution, perhaps?

So she got out Magneton's Pokeball, recalled Gyarados, and began to send it out when she felt another one of her Pokeball's shaking. She picked it out, and realized it was Riolu's. Then she recalled it had Ice Punch, since Rotom analyzed it after she caught it and revealed it having Force Palm, Feint, and Blaze Kick as well. Sure, it was unevolved, but it was quick and maneuverable, so it had that advantage going for it. Sending it out in lieu of Magneton, Riolu hit the ground, looked back at its trainer, and gave a determined nod while Reimu commanded it to attack.

Which it did, wasting no time leaping up to its opponent's face and Ice Punching it as hard as it could. The Pokemon reeled back holding its face trying to ease the pain, before moving to retaliate by attempting to spear it with its stinger. Riolu, of course, easily dodged it, using the opportunity to land another Ice Punch while it was stuck in the ground and trying to get itself back out, which caused it to roll across the ground and rest against a tree.

Riolu landed back on the ground, and prepared to land the final attack on its weakened foe. But instead of using another Ice Punch, as Reimu commanded, it instead began gathering large amounts of aura on its two paws. Reimu's old aura-sensing ability hit her once again, and when she was able to refocus, realized Riolu was amassing gigantic amounts of the stuff and concentrating it between its two paws in some fashion. Said fashion ended up being a maneuver to concentrate the aura between its arms into a ball; this was weak and dilute at first, but soon Riolu condensed it further into a much smoother energy ball.

Then, halfway through this, Riolu's entire body began glowing a brilliant white. Reimu knew what this meant: it was evolving. Riolu's silhouette grew taller, and when it faded seconds later, its form was replaced with that of what resembled a bipedal jackal, who finished amassing the Aura Sphere and launched it right in the mystery Pokemon's direction.

The mystery Pokemon only had a second to look up before Aura Sphere smashed into it, creating a blue explosion that sent it flying up wards. The imposter Reimu recalled it mid-air, knowing she had lost the fight.

Both Reimus stared at each other for several moments before the real one spoke to the other.

"Nice try, doppelganger, but you can't top the real me. That fight was barely a warm-up. Now, tell me, what is your purpose?"

The other Reimu took a moment to respond, before gripping her face and making an annoyed, pained expression, then looked back up instantly regaining her neutral expression.

"...strong. Master was right. Must... train further..." She raised her gohei into the air, summoning an Ultra Wormhole which the fake Medicine traveled through before it closed. The fake Reimu then wandered off out of the forest without saying anything further.

Reimu stared blankly for a few seconds, wondering who or what that mysterious figure was. The fact that she summoned an Ultra Wormhole and mentioned a "master" meant that she was very likely directly connected to the incident's perpetrator. And that said perpetrator had a fake Reimu as its minion opened up some grave implications regarding what its plan was, but exactly what that plan was, was for now unknown.

She then felt a poke, and looked down at her newly evolved Lucario. He looked back at her, his red eyes staring right into her own.

Reimu heard clapping behind her. "Well done!" It was Mallow, congratulating her. "Your Riolu - well, Lucatio - handled that battle like a beast!"

Reimu reached her hand behind her back. "Um, thanks." She looked over to Lucario. "I guess it really wanted to win and it evolved?"

"Unlikely," Kiawe said stepping forward. "When I was in Trainer School, we learned that Riolu are highly sensitive to trainer's auras, and will only befriend those that they feel are strong with a type of force called 'aura.' If that bond between them and their trainer becomes strong enough, they learn a move called Aura Sphere, and the first time they try to use it they evolve into Lucario." He looked at Lucario some more. "But for it to evolve the same day it joined you... it must think you're something else."

Reimu thought back, and realized from the time she caught a glimpse of Riolu at Brooklet Hill that it must have been following her from the time she arrived on the island. Clearly, there was something about her that drew him to join her team and then evolve soon after. Perhaps it was her own underused aura-sensing ability that drew him to her like a magnet. Maybe he sensed that she was a strong trainer and wanted to train alongside her.

Or maybe he saw something else in her that she wasn't even aware of.

"Well, it's something alright," Reimu replied, unsure what else to say.

She walked over to the Totem Lurantis, who was now healed but still on the ground. Reimu worked with Mallow to help it back up onto its feet, then Mallow gave it a sip of her stew to revitalize it.

"There we go," Mallow said. "Lurantis is much better now." The Totem Pokemon was in much better shape now than when it had first presented itself, although it was still obviously tired.

"So, does that mean I get to fight it now?" Reimu asked her. Eevee, who was still on top of her head, began twitching her tail in anticipation of a scuffle.

But Mallow answered, "I think it would be best if it we let it rest for a while before it tries challenging any more trial-goers. That poison looked pretty mean; even with super-medicine in its body, it wouldn't be able to provide the kind of fight that would at all challenge yours and Lillie's Pokemon." She looked at it, and it looked at Reimu. "Besides, you helped save it, and it thought you did well beating that strange figure and their -"

"Bzzrt!" Rotom cut itself into the conversation. "I came up with a name for it! And you're not gonna believe what else I found!" It projected a hologram which showed the strange Pokemon, labeled 'Naganadel', and Poipole on the same page, something that was only done if, most commonly, one Pokemon evolved into the other.

"So you found it was an evolution after all?" Reimu asked it.

"Sure looks like it!" Rotom said. "I looked over their data, and realized there were enough similarities that they must be related!"

Reimu replied to it, "funny you say that, because I figured it was somehow similar to that... Poipole, I suppose, because it was colored the same, and its thorax kinda looked like its head, too."

Rotom explained further, "I'm gonna pipe this information to the one and only Professor Oak in Kanto! He'd looooove to see this!"

After Reimu and Lillie accepted their Grassium-Z's, Mallow guided the Totem Lurantis to a safe place in the jungle to help it recover. By the time everything had more or less settled down, it was 6 P.M., and starting to get dark. So, Mallow decided to cook everyone dinner.

Spread out in front of everyone, atop a large, wood picnic table, was an assortment of goodies including a bowl of the stew cooked up for the trial earlier, fruit and shrimp skewers, Basculin fillets, berry displays, assorted butters and sauces, grilled and glazed peppers and onions, and some other odds and ends as well. Even the salt and pepper shakers had special seasoned salt and a custom peppercorn mix, respectively. Mallow was even kind enough to offer chopsticks as well as the usual forks and knives, so Reimu went with those to eat her food.

After everyone passed around the food and filled up their plates, Mallow led a quick prayer to the Island Guardians for the meal, before everyone started digging in.

Reimu decided to start a conversation in between bites. "So, can you tell me some more about the Island Guardians?"

Mallow said, "oh, sure. So, I'm sure you know by now that each island has a guardian on it. It's been that way for as long as humans have lived here. Now, the tricky thing is, they guard the islands, but they're very... odd when it comes to their behavior, and act in ways that humans and even other Pokemon just can't understand. They're also very strong, so wild Pokemon avoid them unless they think they can take them on. Each one has a shrine on their island, called the 'Ruins of X,' where X is Conflict for Melemele, Life for this island, Abundance for Ula'Ula, and Hope for Poni."

Reimu took a sip of the stew with her spoon. The delightfully spicy but flavorful taste tickled the tongue and cleared her sinuses, and definitely left a sensation as it went down her throat. She then asked, "can you tell me about Tapu Lele?"

"Mallow replied, "of course. Tapu Lele usually sleeps during the day, but comes out at night to flutter around, especially on nights with full moons. It drops scales which can heal wounds and sickness if applied to skin, but getting too many of them can also cause people and Pokemon to become aggressive. One story tells of Tapu Lele flying above a battlefield, dropping scales to essentially dope them up and cause them to brawl with each other even more, then it heals them more, seemingly for its own enjoyment."

"Sounds like something a youkai would do where I'm from," Reimu said, taking another sip of stew.

Lillie decided to ask Reimu, "I'm curious, what are these 'youkai' that you keep mentioning?"

"Oh, of course," Reimu answered. "So, this might be a little hard to explain to you guys, only because there's a lot of religion involved. But youkai are things that live in Gensokyo that pop up in religions in Japan, mostly the one that I practice, Shinto. They're kind of like fairies or demons, although Gensokyo has fairies as well and they're considered separate, but they can become full-fledged youkai under certain circumstances. Mostly, they're born from human fears and misunderstandings, and more often than not are born from wild animals who gain power from these fears. They include two-tailed cats, nine-tailed foxes, snow-women, forlorn objects who gain consciousness, river monsters, and there are literally hundreds of kinds. Some of them eat humans, others are simply content to play tricks on them. My job as Hakurei Shrine Maiden is to ensure that the balance between human and youkai is kept in check."

Hau grimaced. "Wait, they eat humans? Then why not just get rid of them entirely?"

Reimu answered, "well, I easily could. But there's a big reason I don't: the reason Gensokyo exists to begin with is because youkai, along with many other myths and legends across the world, are as whole an endangered species as the world in general becomes more cynical, scientific explanations for stuff are found, religion slowly dies, and overall just aren't as scared of magic and the supernatural as they used to be. So a barrier was put up which separates Gensokyo from points outside. Nothing can get in or out most of the time, but things and people often drift in for many reasons. For example, there's a youkai that creates echos, but when echos were given another explanation by humans, they literally began poofing out of existence. If every last youkai were to die and all sources of fairies destroyed, the barrier would most likely come crashing down, killing everyone inside and creating huge damage outside as well, plus any youkai ouside of the border would most likely die as well. So as you can probably imagine, border incursions are a big deal, and maintaining THAT is my other job; it was me investigating one such incursion that led me here."

She took a sip of fruit juice before continuing. "One thing I noticed when I came here is how youkai-like a lot of Pokemon are. In fact, they'd probably be mistaken for youkai if they were to appear there. I've already seen Pokemon that look like every example of youkai that I've given, and then some. I've even been told they used to be feared by humans just as well. But the way people and Pokemon live together in this world and legends are not only still embraced, but not even questioned, in spite of all the technology and science that I've seen, is just amazing."

As she was telling her story, her eyes happened to train toward Kiawe, who was staring at his bowl of stew with trepidation.

"Alright, I'm gonna do it," he said. Reluctantly, he took his spoon, scooped up a spoonful, and quickly put it to his mouth and downed it before putting the spoon back down.

Everyone stared at him. "Ya okay?" Hau asked him. Kiawe nodded his head.

Then he belched a stream of fire from his mouth, which lit up the table and came within inches of Hau's hair, causing him to duck. Once finished, he covered his mouth.

"KIAWE!" Mallow exclaimed with a scowl. "Where are your table manners, mister?!" Everyone at the table, Kiawe included, laughed at his inability to take Mallow's stew, as well as his sheer rudeness at the table.

* * *

After dinner, everyone did their part in cleaning up, with Reimu's task being to wash all the dishes. After everything was said and done, Mallow excused herself for a couple of minutes, diving into the jungle greenery and producing rustling noises. She emerged with a wagon full of greasy paper bags, each with a malasada inside.

"Hau," she asked, "how about if you and Kiawe have a malasada-eating contest over there by that log?" She pointed at a mossy fallen log next to a brook.

Hau looked at the pile of malasadas, then at the log, then Kiawe, then at the pile of malasadas again, gazing at them the same way Fred Flintstone would stare at a plate of ribs.

His Pikachu certainly agreed. "PIKA!"

Hau whipped over to Kiawe. "Yeah, let's have an eating contest! Woohoo!"

"Uh, Hau, I-" but it was too late. Kiawe was already being dragged over by Hau, and he was surprised by how strong the little boy was, since in the other hand he was also dragging along the wagon full of malasadas, which Pikachu had park itself atop of.

Reimu looked at the two going off into the woods, then looked back at Mallow. "Um, what was that for?"

Mallow giggled, then answered, "I had to shoo them off somehow. After all, it would be kind of awkward if boys were around while we relaxed at the hot spring after a rough day!"

Hot spring? Yes please, Reimu thought. She'd had a rough week so far, and the chance to chill at a hot spring was something she could absolutely get behind.

Mallow led her, Lillie and Lana through a thicket of ferns, eventually cutting through to the breathtaking sight of a volcanically-fueled hot spring, surrounded by heavy steam, moss-covered basalt rocks, and colorful plants. The one Pokemon there at the time, a foraging Passimian, sensed their presence and moved on to another site.

"What do you think?" Mallow asked. Of course, all three of her guests were amazed by the sight, even Lana, who had lived her whole life on Akala Island and who had become close friends with Mallow and even then had not seen the hot spring.

"I think it looks like I could just hop right in and melt away!" Lillie commented.

"Excellent!" Mallow said.

After they had removed their clothes and got situated, they wasted no time starting to tell each other stories, which soon led to Reimu recounting another one of her stories.

"...so, Lillie, have I mentioned the religious war yet?"

Lillie said, "no, I don't think you've told me or us anything like that."

"Okay, so it's honestly one of the more pathetic incidents, and even now nobody's quite sure what all happened. Basically, what happened was one youkai who is an embodiment of 66 masks lost one of them, the Mask of Hope, causing the entire Human Village to become depressed. Now, we didn't know this at the time, so we all started a contest which was supposed to bring religion to the Village as a way to give them hope, either Shinto, Taoism or Buddhism. Well, that's what it started as, then it just devolved into a blind spellcard tournament, and then even later a drunken slugfest which this youkai wandered into the middle of. She explained the situation to us, after which Mamizou took her in to help her develop her emotions, which more or less fixed the incident. Like I said, one of the more pathetic incidents. The night that happened, I invited some people over for tea and Mahjong, then later it was just me and Marisa playing Go until I eventually managed to get her to leave."

Lillie took a sip of some berry juice. "Why do most of your stories involve alcohol?" she asked.

"Because... that's honestly how at least half of incidents start and end. Also there's no 'legal drinking age' in Gensokyo, unlike here."

Lillie looked around for a second, then replied, "well, I guess I'm glad I have one. I can't imagine how the Team Flare Incident would have ended, for example, if either side was drunk." Everyone laughed at this.

There was a rustling in the bushes, which caused all four girls to jolt their heads to make sure it wasn't an intruder. Instead, the figure that emerged turned out to be none other than the Totem Lurantis, revitalized from its meal and wanting to spend some time with its handler.

"Oh! Lurantis! We were just relaxing after a long day. Wanna join?"

The tall Totem Bloom Sickle Pokemon sauntered over to the hot spring, tested the water, then slowly slipped in between Mallow and Lana and rested its scythes on the banks as if to say "how you doin'?"

"See, Pokemon like hot springs too!" Mallow told everyone. Reimu and Lillie snickered, while Lana slowly backed away from the Pokemon sitting right next to her. After all, if you were a short girl sitting next to a 2-meter-tall walking plant, you'd probably do the same. Mallow continued, "and it looks like Lurantis is getting better; in fact, it might be up for doing trials again tomorrow! I tell ya, Pokemon. You knock 'em down, they'll get right back up and start swinging again!"

Through this time, Lillie had set her egg on the side of the spring behind her, hoping the heat radiating from the spring would make it hatch faster. She gently patted the egg with her hand, before turning her attention back to the group.

"I have a story," Lana chimed in. "Reimu, remember when I mentioned that prince story that I said was for another time? I think now's a good time to tell it."

Reimu reclined back. "Okay, shoot."

Lana cleared her throat, then introduced the story to Reimu. "This story is new to you, but everyone here learns it in school. Centuries ago, Melemele Island had a powerful king, who was loved by the people as a strong leader. But, even more loved than the king was his son, Prince Kamehameha. The prince was the man of the people: a master surfer, hunter, and battler. No one could match him. Yet he was also kind, compassionate and charismatic, which was why everyone loved him.

"Now, the Islands were not unified, as they are today. The Prince was the one who unified the islands under the Melemele monarchy. This happened when, on a pilgrimage to Poni Island, he climbed the island's tallest mountain, which was when he witnessed a distortion of space, that opened into the first ever Ultra Wormhole seen by humans. Out of this wormhole came Solgaleo and Lunala, which the Prince thought to be deities, and started to praise them.

"But the two beasts had a message for him. They claimed that a great threat would soon consume the land, and that the only way Alola had a chance was for each of the four islands to be unified. The Prince thought that the best way to do this was to capture all four Island Guardians - something no one had ever done before. So, he battled the two beasts, using his most powerful Pokemon, a red Gyarados just like yours. He almost lost to their awesome power, but somehow, he prevailed, and commanded the two beasts as his own.

"After this, he toured each island, approaching each Island Guardian, and used Solgaleo, Lunala and the Guardians he had previously captured to tame them one by one, finishing with his own island's guardian, Tapu Koko. His triumph earned the respect not only of each of the Island Guardians, but of all the kings and queens of Alola, who hailed him as a champion and rallied behind his claim of the coming threat. His quest to capture each of the Island Guardians is said to be the first ever Island Challenge."

Reimu took all this in, this legend of a great prince. Of course, every place has their own creation legend or whatever. There was Japan's own Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, which was part of Kaguya's backstory. There was also the story of Houyi, who shot down nine of the ten suns, one of which was Apollo, and the other killed Junko's son, explaining Junko and Hecatia's grudge against his wife, Chang'e. She had heard of other legends from other lands too: one that intrigued her greatly was one told by a youkai who claimed to be from the other side of the ocean from Japan. His story told of a war between two tribes, which angered the mountain storm king, who removed part of his head and threw it down at the lake the battles took place on, killing the warriors and splitting the lake in two. Settlers referred to the split lakes as Crescent Lake and Lake Sutherland, and the mountain which was part of the god's head still loomed over the valley to this day.

She cleared her head and returned to the present. She asked Lana, "and then what?"

Lana simply said, "well, it wouldn't be fun if the whole story were told in just one day. We didn't learn it all in one day. Perhaps tomorrow you can ask Lillie or someone to finish the story for you."

Reimu slumped back and replied, "...oh, all right." As she finished saying that, there was movement from Lillie's egg.

Lillie turned back. "Oh?" Then, everyone's attention was on the wiggling egg. It wiggled and bounced a few times, then a crack began to form around the middle of the egg which made its way around and back again until..."

"Prew!"

The egg popped open, and a small, snowy Alolan Vulpix shook the top half of the shell off of its head, before staring at its trainer, who it considered its momma.

"It hatched!" Lillie got a hold of the newborn Vulpix and began gently caressing it. "It's sooooo cute!" The Vulpix began licking her face like a dog, and she laughed and giggled as she splashed around in the water, much to Reimu's slight annoyance.

"I'll name you Snowy!" Lillie told Vulpix, who seemed to approve of the name. Then again, it seemed to approve of everything she said right now.

Everyone clapped. "Congratulations!" Mallow said to Lillie. "I'm sure you two will make a wonderful team."

It was agreed that everyone would get out of the spa and get ready for bed, which they did (Lurantis stayed for a few more minutes before getting out and melding back into the deeper jungle). Mallow threw up a couple of tents, laid down sleeping bags, and put down a water basin so everyone could brush their teeth.

After Lillie showed Vulpix to its Ultra Ball, she let it back out again so it could sleep with her that night. So she lay down, Vulpix curled up at the foot of the bag, and she dozed off.

Reimu took a few more minutes to get ready, but once she did, she climbed in and went to sleep, Eevee sleeping next to her and Sasha sprawled out at the foot of the bag.

Above, the evening stars painted the sky visible through the palm leaves, entire galaxies able to be seen in the absence of light pollution. A small meteor broke up in the upper atmosphere, creating chunks that shot spectacularly across the horizon before landing in the ocean an unknown distance from shore.

A sacred darkness had laced the land. And the natives were sure it was all Lunala's doing.


	24. The Ditto Five

The group rose bright and early the next morning, again as a result of Mallow's cooking, this time biscuits with sausage gravy and hash. Compared to Mallow's breakfast just a couple of days prior, it wasn't as overwhelming with sugar, which was fine with Reimu since she wasn't much of a sweet tooth anyway. She sipped on a cup of tea in between bites, while Lillie and Mallow idly chatted about various things like school, gossip and a movie that was coming out that day, while Lana sat quietly in the corner cleaning and cooking a fish.

While breakfast was still on, Hau caught up with them, no doubt lured by the smell of thick, rich sausage gravy. "Morning!" he said smiling and waving.

"Morning Hau!" Mallow turned around and answered. "How was the eating contest!"

"Won it!" he exclaimed. Mallow smiled back, knowing that Hau just couldn't resist a pile of malasadas, before catching sight of a clearly disheveled Kiawe stumbling out of the forest greenery and toward the group. Hau gave an aside glance and said, "I'm fine, but... can't say Kiawe is."

"Urk..." Kiawe groaned. "Stomach... hurts... too much... malasada... never... eat... malasada... again..." He suddenly retched and held his hand to his mouth.

"Hey hey hey!" Hau said. "Not when people are eating!" He forcibly turned Kiawe around and marched him into the jungle to, well, do the deed. Despite his best efforts, the sound of hurling could still be heard from the campsite.

Reimu looked at her remaining breakfast, and decided to feed the rest of it to Eevee and Sasha rather than try and finish it herself.

Stumbling back to the group, Kiawe recollected his composure - barely - and said good morning to everyone.

"Uh... um, sorry. Good morning. I'm so sorry about that."

Mallow grinned, and so did Lillie. "I saw that pile," Lillie said. "There were at least 100 malasadas in there. And a big boy like you couldn't handle it like the kid did~" she teased.

Hau scowled, "I'm not a kid."

Lillie laughed, of course. As much as Hau thought he was hot stuff (and surprisingly strong for his size), the fact was, he was still just a little boy among a group of teenage girls, of course he was going to find himself at the receiving end of no small amount of teasing. By now, though, he had learned to just roll with it; if dealing with this was what it took to become a trainer, then that was the price he was willing to pay.

"Rai rai!" An electric squeak could be heard coming from the jungle.

Hau turned around, and saw Raichu surfing in on its tail.

"Hey buddy!" Hau said, kneeling down and giving the electric mouse a hug.

Reimu looked over at them. "Huh? Is that..."

"It evolved last night!" Hau said. "But, uh, I didn't give it a Thunder Stone. You see, Pikachu decided it also wanted to be in the eating contest, and it ate a whole bunch, which caused it to evolve for some reason."

Since this was a new Pokemon, Reimu could predict what happened next: Rotom came out and furnished her with a definition:

_Raichu, the Mouse Pokemon. The evolved form of Pikachu. This form is one which has so far only been documented in the Alola region. It is said that a high-sugar diet which includes pancakes of a special Alolan recipe triggers this evolution as opposed to the standard one. It uses Psychic power to move around while standing on its tail in a manner resembling surfing. Another word for this Pokemon is "hodad."_

"...I see," she said simply.

But Hau went back to smiling. "But I guess that just means it'll be even more awesome in battle!"

Reimu just nodded and smiled, while Sasha enjoyed the rest of her breakfast.

After cleaning up, the group walked out of the jungle, and Kiawe decided to hop on his Charizard and part ways with them. After he was gone, Mallow turned around and asked Reimu, "I suppose you all are headed to Konikoni City next to challenge Olivia?"

Reimu replied with, "uh, sure I guess?"

"You guess? C'mon, she's the Kahuna and you've beaten all this island's trials, and Hau and Lillie too! Besides, me and Lana both live in Konikoni too, and we were talking about heading home to visit family today before we went back to maintaining our trials, so we were wondering if you wanted to come along with us!"

Reimu saw no reason why not, if that was the case and Olivia was there. "Uh, yeah, sure, we can do that."

"Awesome!"

They went down to the nearest bus stop, and as soon as the next bus arrived to take them down to Konikoni, Mallow paid everyone's fares and they got right into the back of the bus.

The trip to Konikoni took about an hour and a half, as the bus passed through Heahea City and along a cliffside road that bypassed the Diglett's Tunnel that pedestrian trainers often used to travel in between the two cities. The drive offered amazing views of the bay, and Reimu looked out the window where she could see Sharpedo jumping out of the water to try and snap up the Wingull flying above, while Talonflame skimmed the water's surface trying to snare a Wishiwashi in between its talons while dodging Sharpedo at the same time.

Then, that was when something odd happened. Reimu saw a dark shadow move across the surface of the ocean just beyond the bay, but couldn't see anything in the air that could explain the shadow. It also moved too swiftly for it to be a Wailord or other large Pokemon swimming around just beneath the surface.

Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, it vanished.

Reimu shrugged, must be an aircraft or something.

The bus continued to trudge along the road, and in no time, Konikoni City soon came into view.

* * *

Passing through the town gates, Reimu took another look around the city which they just rolled into. And one thing immediately came to mind: Chinatown. While Reimu herself had never actually been to China, she heard tales of China from Meiling, who described all sorts of traditional East Asian architecture, paper lanterns, paper dragons, paper cranes, paper EVERYTHING. All over the place, deep colors imprinted against open-air stands, bridges and arches stood over streets and canals, even the hotels and office buildings had hints of this sort of thing. Sure, people in this world probably don't know what China is, but they clearly had some sort of equivalent.

It was no Human Village, but it certainly gave off some vibes of that, as well. So Reimu felt she could be able to at least somewhat settle in.

The bus pulled up in front of the Pokemon Center, and the group disembarked.

"What do you think?" Mallow said sweeping her arms in a grandiose way. "This is me and Mallow's home!"

Reimu looked around. "It's lovely." Hau thought the place was really cool, as well. Neither had been here before, and Lillie had only come here a couple times before as a small child.

"So... what do ya wanna do first?" Mallow asked everyone.

Lillie spoke up, "I think it would be nice if I got to meet your family."

"Cool!" she smiled. "Well then, just follow me. It's right this way!"

So Mallow led the group through town, past all the shops, including a place that offered massages to Pokemon (...okay? Reimu thought), another that made and sold paper Skarmorys, a cafe and bookstore, a videogame store (which proudly displayed Super Smash Bros. Ultimate preorder banners), and other odds and ends. Walking along the streets were people in Slowpoke costumes, children with balloons with their parents, and also Pokemon walking along with their trainers outside their Pokeballs. She also caught sight of two or three Rattata raiding a dumpster behind a five-star restaurant, hoping to find and bring back something that would please their Raticate master. Along the rooftops, Pikipek looked down at the streets below. At one point, she saw a power line where a bunch of Fletchling were sitting, only to be intruded upon by a Pelipper that tried to sit right in the middle of them, causing the power line to bow down and the Fletchling to yell at it trying to get it to leave.

Fifteen minutes later, the group came up to a place in the restaurant district, with a sign proclaiming it as Aina's Kitchen. Reimu looked at her phone's clock: it was only nine-thirty in the morning. They'd just eaten breakfast. Why were they here at a restaurant?

Mallow turned around to the group. "This is where I live! I help my dad run the restaurant when I'm doing doing trials or at school."

Reimu was confused. "You live in a restaurant?"

"Well, on the second floor, we do."

Reimu thought about that, and then realized that living where you worked wasn't at all unusual: not only did she do so herself, but many of the shops in the village had small apartments just above them where the shop owners and their families lived. She just hadn't really seen that so far in Alola, which was why it probably surprised her.

As the group made their way inside, there were a few people at the tables who were finishing up their breakfast. Mallow led them around back to the kitchen entrance, where she was sure her dad was working. All throughout, the smell of pancakes permeated the air; it didn't affect Reimu much, having just eaten, although the ever-hungry Hau was starting to get tempted.

As they went through the swinging door, Reimu could see steam rising from all the boiling pots and cooking elements that were being used, and line cooks were running back and forth tending to everything. Toward the front, a man in a chef's outfit was busy wiping off some glasses.

"Hey daddy!" Mallow waved. Her dad, the head chef, turned around to face the group.

"I'm back! These are my friends! And this is Reimu, that girl that's been all over the news!"

He just continued to stare at them blankly.

"...you okay, dad?" Mallow asked, concerned.

"Is he always like this?" Reimu asked.

"Not at all..." Mallow remarked.

Then, the man's expression slowly changed to beady, black eyes and a wide, blank grin.

"Uhm..." Reimu was getting uncomfortable, and so was everyone else.

Then, Mallow's "dad" spoke. "...di...di...Ditto!" Quickly, it melted down from the shape of a man down to a small, amorphous purple blob.

"GAAH!" Reimu jumped back, instinctively grabbing a Pokeball and tossing it at the blob, not knowing it was empty. The ball hit the blob, called it in, and after three clicks the capture was sealed.

Reimu just left the Ultra Ball on the ground while everyone in the group stood back, shocked and confused at whatever just happened.

"What was THAT?!" Reimu exclaimed.

Lana answered, "well, it was a Ditto, that's obvious."

"Reimu turned around. "Ditto?"

"Ditto is a Pokemon that can take on the appearance of other living things. They usually mimic Pokemon, but they can sometimes try to copy humans. But it's easy to tell if it's a Ditto or not, since it still has that blank, creepy smile."

Reimu looked back at the Ultra Ball, and watched as it warped itself to the PC on account of Reimu already having six Pokemon. And she thought about how, as weird as some of the stuff she had seen so far was, there was much weirder stuff hiding just under the surface.

Just then, the kitchen doors burst open, and a man in a chef's outfit came rushing in.

"What the hell was THAT?" the man exclaimed. "I keep trying to tell people, no battling Pokemon in the restaurant!"

Mallow turned around. "It was us, dad! There was a Ditto that looked like you, and it tried to attack us!"

One of the line cooks corroborated Mallow's story. "That's right, chef. We all thought you were down here, right there washing dishes, so we just kept working. We didn't know it was a Ditto!"

Abe heard these claims, then turned to Mallow. "Hm, that's strange. A Ditto impersonating me... where is it?"

Reimu stepped forward. "Well, I threw an empty ball at it and caught it, and it went to the PC and..."

Abe stopped her for a moment, then said "...wait. Are you that girl I keep seeing on the news? The one who came from that wormhole? You crush trainers, and won that race?"

...she wasn't even trying to hide it at this point. "Yes, that's me. I am Reimu Hakurei."

Abe put his hands on her shoulder and shook her. "I can't believe it! I actually get to meet you! Mallow, you didn't tell me you picked up Reimu!"

Mallow said to him, "well, I suppose she just kind of landed in my lap!"

"Awesome! Hey, why don't we go upstairs so we can let the cooks do their job?" So Abe led the group out the kitchen and up the stairs to the apartment where he and Mallow lived.

When they came up the stairs to the modest apartment, Abe let the group pull up seats for themselves at the table, while Mallow started pots of coffee and tea for everyone. Abe wanted to catch up with his daughter about her trials and exploits, of course, but he was also keenly interested in hearing all the tales that Reimu had in store. So she related the first incident she was involved in, the Scarlet Mist incident, to him.

"No way, real vampires?!" He exclaimed.

"Yup, real vampires, and not only that, but an immature vampire mistress and her completely psycho younger sister who can destroy almost anything. Marisa was tied up in the library stealing books, so it was up to me to barge up to Remilia's balcony and show her the business. After that, I went back home to the shrine, only for her to show up at my door a few days later wanting tea. So after I made her a pot, she explained that she had been out for a walk, but came back to see a torrential rainstorm surrounding the mansion, which was odd because the night was clear. Now obviously vampires can't cross running water, so she asked me to go look at it so she could go home. Well, I learn that Flandre broke loose and the rainstorm was Patchouli trying to keep her from escaping the mansion, and when I turn around after hitting a dead end, there she is, yellow hair, red eyes, red-and-white dress. She wanted to play. So I played with her, and by that I mean there was a blizzard of lasers and bullets and I nearly died three times before she was happy and went back to her room in the basement."

"Sounds like that time with the Basculin Cannon," Lana remarked.

Lillie turned to her. "What about Basculins?"

Lana shook her head, "it's a long story, and I've been trying to forget everything that happened since then."

The group visited for about another hour, before Lana got up and told everyone she needed to leave. Reimu, wanting to get along with the day and get to the Grand Trial, convinced her, Lillie and Hau to come along with Lana to her house, and she agreed. They waved goodbye to Mallow, leaving them to have some father-daughter time.

* * *

Out on the street, Lana directed the group down the street and toward the waterfront. Like most waterfronts, Konikoni had an expansive marina, filled to the brim with million dollar yachts from all over the world, private fishing and Krabbying boats as well as commercial ones, and some coast guard vessels tied to one of the piers. Reimu could see a Mareanie trying to climb up one of the boats, only to be whacked off by a sailor with an oar. Just after that, she also noticed glimmering pink lights just beneath the surface: a Bruxish that the Mareanie had been trying to escape, and which no doubt became that Bruxish's meal. Again, life and death in an unfamiliar world.

They soon came to a two-story seaside house overlooking the marina and the bay from atop a small bluff.

"This is my family's house," Lana said to the three. "My dad manages the marina down there. He's probably at work, but mom and my sisters should be home." They walked up to the door, which had a painting of a Gyarados arched over it, and Lana led them inside.

Inside, there were no immediate signs of life, but a female voice called out from the hallway.

"Lana, honey, is that you?"

"Yes, mom, and I brought guests." Her mother stepped out of the hallway with an empty laundry basket to meet the group.

"Oh, hi there! You must be friends of Lana's?"

"You could say that," Reimu said. As soon as she spoke, Lana's mother dropped the basket onto the floor, and she simply stared at Reimu.

She couldn't believe it! She actually got to meet Ms. Wormhole herself!

"Oh, my gosh! Reimu! I've heard all about you! Lana was telling me about you on the phone yesterday! She tells me you caught a Red Gyarados!"

"I did," Reimu replied. "Would you like to see it?"

Lana's face turned red as she cut in, "...let's not bring Gyarados out in the house, shall we?"

"Oh, right." Reimu put the Pokeball down while Lana's mom chuckled lightly.

"Where are Harper and Sarah?" Lana asked her mom.

"I think they're still upstairs playing in their room," she replied, when she heard the sliding glass door out back. Everyone turned around to see what it was, when two, small twin girls who looked very much like Lana walked down the hallway holding hands.

"Harper! Sarah!" their mother exclaimed. "Why didn't you two tell me you were out back? You know you're not supposed to be outback unless I'm watching you!"

The two small girls didn't answer, instead just looking up at them with a somber, but unnerving expression.

"...this doesn't seem right," Lana remarked. "They don't act like creepy twins like this at all."

Reimu thought for a second, then realized, recalling what happened back at the restaurant, what must be happening.

So she grabbed two Pokeballs and threw them. "Go, Lucario and Magneton!" The two Pokemon popped out on the floor in front of the girls, ready for a fight.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Lana's mother shouted.

Reimu smirked. "Those aren't little girls." And sure enough, each of their faces changed to beady eyes and long smiles.

"Di...di...Ditto!" They melted down into purple blobs, before one of them transformed again into Magneton, who tried to use Thunderbolt before Lucario intercepted it with an Aura Sphere, knocking it across the room and onto the ground stunned. Reimu then grabbed two empty Pokeballs, and twirled around as she threw them at the two Dittos. Each one captured and clicked one Ditto, before being sent to the PC.

As Reimu recalled her two Pokemon, the others stood completely confused, wondering what it was that just happened.

"...again?" Hau said flatly.

Soon, the sound of stomping feet could be heard bounding down the stairs as the real Harper and Sarah rushed down to see what the ruckus was.

"Mom, what was that?" Harper said.

"Yeah, what just happened?" Sarah parroted.

Lana looked at them and said, "oh, we were just moving something and knocked something over, nothing big."

"I thought I heard a Pokemon battle going down here! I thought we weren't allowed to have Pokemon in the house!" Clearly, there was no fooling these girls.

"I thought I heard a Lucario down here! We don't have a Lucario!"

The mom steadied the two girls. She didn't want to freak them out by telling them that two Ditto had just broken into the house disguised as them. They were each only seven, if they heard about that, there was no stopping them from blabbing about it everywhere.

"Girls, I want you to meet Reimu," she said to them. "She and her friends are our guests. I want you to treat them with respect, and -"

The girls were all over Reimu in an instant, jumping up and down.

"Mom told us about you! You came from a big hole in the sky! Are you an alien?"

"Your Eevee is sooooooo cute!" When Eevee heard this, she jumped down and let the girls pet her, and what's more, she was purring.

Reimu turned to look at Lillie. "Eevee can purr?"

Lillie nodded. Reimu looked back down, and could barely contain her squee as the two girls fluffed the rabbit-eared animal right up.

After they straightened the room back up from the scuffle, the girls' mother sat everyone down at the table, wishing to hear from the group all about their exploits and adventures, but like Abe before, she was particularly interested in the kind of tales Reimu offered. Not wanting to retread the same story around Lillie and Hau, she decided to tell the Moriya incident to her.

"So, actual goddesses exist where you're from"

"Yup, real goddesses, and not only that, but they were trying to set up a plot to get all of Gensokyo's faith, since without it they eventually weaken and fade from assistance. I matched up there, had a few words with Sanae, Kanako and Suwako, and that evening we were down in the village watching a sumo match. But that's not all: Kanako then fed the corpse of the Yatagarisu to a random hell raven so she could jump-start a nuclear reactor to power Gensokyo, but the thing is, she told the hell raven she wanted to make a perfect world. Now, hell ravens are about as sharp as a floor, so having lived in a burning hellscape her whole life, she tried to turn the surface into a burning hellscape. Seven spell cards and a fifty-kilo sack of birdseed later, and we managed to pin her down and return her home."

Lana's mother didn't know what to think: nuclear hell ravens, capitalistic goddesses, and Reimu talking about squashing a sun-hurling living nuclear reactor about as casually as one might mention buying milk. Having been a trial captain herself back in the day, she thought she'd seen a lot, but clearly, she hadn't seen nothin' compared to this girl, who was twenty years younger than her to boot!

"Sounds like you've been through quite a bit!"

"Yeah... but, this is easily my biggest incident yet," Reimu said a little more softly. "At first, I was just trying to find a way home, because I'm sure everyone's freaking out about me being gone. But, as I went along and learned more about Ultra Wormholes and the legendary beasts that these island's legends talk about, I've also been trying to search for clues as to what might be behind this incident to begin with, and this 'Island Challenge' has been a good opportunity

for me to go around and do that. Because, you know, even if I did find a way back home, if I don't also find the thing responsible, then it might just happen again, or worse."

The girls' mother didn't really know much about Ultra Wormholes: the only thing she remembered was two sentences from a lecture back when she was a senior in high school history, as well as trips to the museum in Hau'oli City. All she recalled was that Solgaleo and Lunala came through them five centuries ago and stopped some threat that brought darkness to the land. She never thought it would ever be relevant to her life, but now here was someone who got chucked out of one and wanted to get back home the same way.

All she could say was, "well, let's just hope that you can find a way home safely, and whatever caused this is stopped. I'm sure you must have been terrified."

Reimu answered, "well, yeah, I was, and very confused and disoriented too. I mean, I got pulled through a hole, and now I'm very far from home. And even though I know that I'll need to find another one of those wormholes to get back, where am I gonna find one, you know? It's not like one's just going to pop up right now in front of us at random. Something tore open that wormhole, and they wanted me here on purpose. And now I need to find that thing and get them to make a way home for me."

Reimu slumped on the table, once again coming to grips about the hard reality of the situation. She was far from home. Everyone back in Gensokyo was surely scared and trying to figure out just what happened. She had just met shadowy copies of herself and Medicine with apparent ties to the incident's perpetrator. She had no idea how much more serious this incident was going to get. And worst of all, she didn't have the ability to use her familiar spell cards. How was she supposed to put an end to all of this?

She felt a paw on her cheek. "Vee?" Reimu looked over. Eevee wanted to know what was up with her.

"Looks like Eevee's worried about you," Lana said.

"How do you know?" Reimu replied.

"Pokemon can grow very close to their trainers. They can sense when their trainer is down, just by reading them. Eevee can tell you're not feeling so well about being so far from home. She wants you to know that she's at your side, no matter how hard things get for you."

Hau got up. "Yeah, and I'm there for you too!"

Lillie looked, then got up herself. "I'm with you as well."

Reimu looked around at all the support she had, from human and Pokemon alike. And it made her remember part of what made her great in the first place: her ability to leave impressions in people, her ability to lead and fight as a team to resolve incidents. In the past, it turned foes into friends, or at the very worst, somewhat decent people. And it also made her realize all the support she had from even people she didn't know.

It made her just a little bit warmer inside. She smiled.

Reimu decided to get up from the table. "Thank you. You really don't know how much this all means for me. Looking back, I just remember all the seemingly impossible things I've managed to do, just because of how well I can work with people even if I think I'm alone. People like you. And, well," she let Eevee hop back on top of her head, and it barked, "my Pokemon as well. We can do this. Ain't nothing gonna stop me from getting to the bottom of this."

"That's the spirit!" Hau exclaimed jumping up and down. "Now, why don't we go crash Olivia's place and do our Grand Trial?"

Reimu smirked. With all the energy he had, she figured Hau could probably throw down with someone like Mokou with only his bare hands and win. "That sounds like a great idea!"

"Then let's blow this pop stand!"

Lillie pouted. "Hau! Where are your manners?!"

Hau settled down. "Oh, alright, mom," he said sarcastically.

They waved goodbye to Lana's family and made their way out the front door.

"Hey! Don't forget to come back and battle sometime!" Lana hollered to Reimu.

"I won't," Reimu said back.

* * *

Now back down to a trio, Hau, Lillie and Reimu made their way down the cobblestone promenade, with each of their Pokemon following close behind.

"So what's that little dog walking next to you?" Reimu asked Hau.

Hau looked down, and Growlithe barked back at him. "Oh, this is Growlithe. He hatched from my egg last night. You wouldn't believe how much he licked me after he hatched and jumped on my face!"

Oh, they could so believe it, Reimu and Lillie both thought. You get an animal like that riled up, they will love you to death if you let them. That was the truth about dogs. They weren't called Man's Best Friend for no reason.

The three chatted and laughed with each other for a while, while they walked to the shop where Olivia supposedly was. It took about half an hour to reach it by walking from Lana's house.

When they got to the place, Rotom came out to let them know of this fact.

"Bzzrt! Here's the place! Treasures of the Earth Jewelry!"

The place certainly looked impressive: it had a walk up lined with rare stones and cobbled with pure slate, and planted alongside was an exotic garden that reminded her of one that one of the Human Village's residents had in front of their place.

They opened the door to the place, and spread out before them were shelves upon shelves of diamonds, earrings, birthstones, souvenir rocks, and even fossils.

"Welcome to our store!" A woman behind the counter said to them.

Hau jumped forward. "Hi! We're trial-goers. Is Kahuna Olivia here?"

The woman answered, "I think I saw her upstairs. You can go look if you want. Be sure to knock on her door!"

"Thanks!" Hau ran up the stairs while Lillie and Reimu caught up with him.

Once they were up, the woman thought to herself, "...which is odd, since Olivia said she wasn't going to be back until lunch."

At the top of the stairs, the trio turned a corner, and there, at the end of the hallway, was Olivia, her back turned toward them.

"Olivia!" Hau called out. "We're here to-"

Lillie slapped her hand on Hau's mouth to shush him.

"Manners, again!" she said.

Reimu decided to walk up and greet the Kahuna instead. "Sorry to disturb you. It's us again. We finished all our trials on this island, and we were wondering if you..."

"Olivia" turned around, and had beady eyes and a flat smile on her face.

Reimu didn't waste a second reacting. "...could be a dear and hold still while I nab 'ya." She whipped an Ultra Ball straight out of her bag, so fast that the Ditto didn't even have enough time to melt back down before the ball snagged it, clicked, and sent itself to the PC.

"What's with these things today?" Reimu wondered aloud. "I didn't even know they existed until today, and now I own four of them!"

"I don't know," Lillie wondered as well. "It's very strange. They seem to be all over the place impersonating people today."

Just then, they heard the sound of the front door opening downstairs. They decided to go down and see who it was, and just like before, the real Olivia showed up with a sack of food from a nearby food stall.

"Sorry I'm late!" she told the counter lady. "There was a long line at the salad bar, and..." She looked over at the trio, and put her food down.

"Well, if it isn't our three trial-goers! I knew you would all clear your trials in record time!"

"It wasn't hard," Reimu said, leaving out the fact that none of her three trials went as they should have. As far as she was concerned, Olivia didn't need to know about the doppelganger or the two energy birds. All that mattered was the three shiny new Z-Crystals that were in her possession. "Right, Lillie?"

Lillie also nodded, leaving out the fact that Adele left a crater in the volcano that wasn't there a couple days ago, or that she managed to completely blew apart the school of Totem Wishiwashi literally just after Lana had gotten it back together; Lana actually said to Lillie that she was going to look for another Totem Pokemon since Wishiwashi just wasn't cutting it at this rate. All that mattered was that she (and Hau) had their Z-Crystals and could challenge Olivia for her stamp.

"Um, yes, that's right," she said.

Olivia smiled. "That's great. You three have already built up quite a reputation for yourselves." She turned around, facing the rest of her store. "Feel free to look around my store. Then, I will take you to the trial site when you are ready."

Hau didn't really have much taste in jewelry, so he decided to just sit down, flip open his 3DS and continue with Team Kirby Clash. The other two looked around the store, eyeing all the expensive stones, pendants and necklaces on display.

Reimu perused the glass cases, and immediately took note of a pretty aquamarine necklace. Aquamarine was her birthstone, so she thought it would be nice if she could wear a pretty necklace with her birthstone on it. 12,000 Pokedollars later, and it was around her neck, resting on her breast. She also decided to pick up a carved piece of obsidian as a souvenir, something she could show everyone back home once she was able to get back. Meanwhile, Lillie was drawn to an Ice Stone, which she was told could evolve Vulpix into a graceful Alolan Ninetales, although she knew she didn't want to use it just yet; generally, Pokemon that evolved using stones couldn't learn moves once that happened unless they were Vaporeon, Jolteon or Flareon. So she wanted Vulpix to pick up some strong moves before using a stone on it, and even then she would still respect Vulpix's wish if it did not want to evolve yet.

While browsing still, Reimu came into some fossils. They were lined up neatly, propped up on red felt pillows with descriptive tags telling where they were originally recovered, such as one that was dug up from Mt. Moon, and another that came from Glittering Cave.

"What are these?" Reimu asked the counter person, who looked over to her from a newspaper.

"Oh, why these are fossils of Pokemon that went extinct a long time ago. People like to collect them, and it's even possible, if you take them to special labs that can do it, to revive them into living, breathing and fully trainable Pokemon."

Rotom came out and scanned each of the fossils, which filled in a corresponding Dex entry for each. Reimu got a good look at each of the entries, which included a strange cephalopod, an insect-like crab creature, a pterodactyl, a clawed insect with many spines on its back, a bizarre plant-like creature, a small dinosaur-like animal, a quadruped with a shield-like head, a sea turtle, a colorful bird, a small Apatosaurus and a baby T-Rex. Despite their various quirks and differences, she noticed that all of them shared a Rock-type. Rotom even provided an article which told how scientists debated why this was. Some thought that each of these Pokemon were part Rock-type in the past and their typing was what allowed them to leave behind more complete remains, while others argued that the revival process itself caused them to become Rock-type where they weren't before. In either case, Reimu thought it was amazing that Pokemon from the past could be brought back to life in the present - she had been told by Yukari that there were species of youkai that once existed, and in some cases were even downright common, before they became extinct, and unlike regular animals and plants, their bodies dissolved to dust upon death, meaning they did not leave behind remains and could never come back. But these creatures could.

However, none interested her enough to consider adding them to her team, so she decided to pass up each of the fossils, satisfied with her aquamarine necklace, and instead headed toward the entrance where the others were waiting for her.

"Done shopping?" Olivia asked. Hau had already put away his 3DS and was eagerly waiting to leave.

"Yeah, I guess so," Reimu answered.

Olivia turned toward the door. "Splendid. Then let's head to the trial site." She decided to open the door for the three, with Reimu stepping out the door first. She said to Olivia, "why, thank you - "

There was a copy of her standing right outside the door with the Ditto expression on her face.

Reimu facepalmed. "You've GOT to be kidding me..."

The Ditto melted back down to its true appearance, only this one was blue as opposed to purple.

"Oh, this one's a shiny," Lillie commented. "Maybe it's the leader?"

"Honestly, I don't really care," Reimu said reaching for Sasha's Pokeball and sending the cat out to attack and weaken the opposing Ditto. "I just want to stop running into these things and get on with it." She wasted no time ordering Sasha to pin it down and Bite it before it had the chance to transfrom, then once it was incapacitated she tossed an Ultra Ball yet again to capture it and send it to the PC.

Recalling Sasha, Reimu sighed, "holy hell, how long is this gag going to keep up?" Before Lillie could answer, there was a whistle coming from down the street. It was a policeman.

"Ma'am, were you the one that just captured that Ditto?"

Reimu looked at him awkwardly. She had seen officers before, but had never really dealt with them other than observing Hau get pulled over for that bull chip on the road. Now she was seemingly in the hot seat. But she wasn't concerned: she'd rather a fat officer than have to deal with Seija again, for instance. Speaking of which, she wondered if Seija had ever been apprehended following that incident, since she lost track after Sukuna left the shrine.

She cleared her head and came back to the present. "Uh, yeah. It freaked me out, so I just dealt with it."

"I see," the officer said. "Would you mind coming with me back to the station. I would like to talk to you."

Hau elbowed Reimu's side. "Oooooooh, busted!" he whispered.

Reimu summoned a Tauros, as did everyone else, and followed the officer's squad car back to the police station near the entrance of the town. Once there, he led Reimu inside. Inside the station was a front reception desk, a processing area for the attached drunk tank, and behind all that, a mess of cubicles with computers, donuts and coffee all over the place while white-collars pounded away at their keyboards.

He led them to the police chief's office. On the door was the emblem for the Konikoni police department.

The officer knocked on the door, and after a few moments the police chief opened the door for them.

"Officer Brown," he said, "who do we have here?"

"This here's Reimu. Reimu Hakurei. I caught her catching one of the Ditto Five."

The chief's eyes widened. He had heard of Reimu, but he didn't think he'd meet her in person.

"Oh, of course! Come right in!" So the officer led Reimu, then Hau and Lillie inside the office while Olivia waited out in the station reception.

Reimu sat down in front of the chief, while Hau and Lillie sat down on the side. The officer offered his hand to shake.

"My name is Chief Bahr. I run this police station."

Reimu shook his hand. "Um, hi, I'm -"

"Oh, no need, I already know about you. Everyone in Alola does."

Reimu sat on her hands. "Uh, this might be a weird question, but am I in trouble?"

Chief Bahr responded, "no, but I do want to ask you some questions and disclose some information."

Reimu shifted around in her seat. "Okay go ahead."

Bahr reached into his desk, and got out some file photos. "Let's just get straight to it. Other than that one Ditto, did you run into any others when you came here to town?"

Reimu, as always decided to tell the full truth. "Yes, of course. We came into town with two trial captains. When we went to the first one's house, there was one impersonating her father. When we went to the other one's house, there were two impersonating her sisters. When we went to Olivia's shop, there was one impersonating her. And then when we stepped out to leave, there was that one disguised as me. In each case, I captured them in order to restrain them."

Chief Bahr said, "I see. Well, it's obvious you just caught each of the Ditto Five."

Reimu was curious. "The Ditto Five?"

Bahr responded, "as you probably now know, Ditto is a Pokemon that can take the appearance of other things. Those five Ditto in particular are known for impersonating people, for no reason than to perhaps cause mischief. They used to be owned by a local prankster, but after he was arrested for property damage he broke their Pokeballs rather than let them be seized in order to free them. Since then, they've been causing all sorts of trouble across town, and they've been evading even our best rangers. And yet here you come in and scoop them up like they were nothing. And for that, I congratulate you."

Reimu took this compliment in, while Lillie and Hau gave her a thumbs-up, glad that she wasn't in any trouble but rather being commended by the police.

She then turned back to the chief, and asked him, "so, what would you like me to do with them?"

Bahr responded, "well, we did have a reward out for their capture, and normally I would give you this reward in exchange for handing them over for processing, like we do with all other rogue Pokemon." He cleared his throat, before continuing. "But, I've heard all about you and your battling prowess. And seeing you in person, you seem to be very humble and responsible. So I'm going to give you the reward, but you can also keep the Ditto, unless you don't want them, of course. We'll have to find them new owners anyway, since they're obviously not safe to release back into the wild."

Reimu pondered this. Sure, she might not need them immediately. But having five shapeshifting Pokemon at her disposal could certainly have its uses. If nothing else, they might be interesting to use in battle down the line. Heck, maybe she could take them back with her to Gensokyo and use them in a combo-clone attack like what Flandre did back when she fought her, or "scarecrows" for the shrine or whatever.

"Sure, I'll keep them," she said.

"That's excellent!" Chief Bahr exclaimed. He handed her the 100,000 Pokedollar check and put down some notes. He excused Reimu, but just before she left, she asked him one last thing.

"Hey, could I ask you something quickly?"

"Sure, Reimu," Chief Bahr told her.

She turned around to him. "Yesterday, I ran into a person that looks almost exactly like me, except she has pale blue skin, wears a mostly grey shrine maiden outfit, and yellow eyes. You might see her alongside a pale little girl, except she has black claws instead of fingers on one hand. Both have Pokemon that are poisonous, the one that looks like me has one that looks like a big wasp-dragon. She might still be on this island, and she's very dangerous and prone to violent outbursts. If you see her, I want you to call me." She handed him her phone so that he could take down her number.

"Hmm, I haven't gotten any reports of suspicious persons with that description. But if you're concerned about her, I can certainly put down a description, and if we see anything like her we'll contact you right away. I'll let the island sheriff and other police chiefs across the island know as well."

"Thank you," Reimu said, taking back her phone, and leading both Hau and Lillie out of the police station, where Olivia guided them out of town toward her chosen trial site.

Unbeknownst to them, they had been watched the whole time by an electrical energy bird, who cackled before flying southeast in the direction of Ula'Ula Island.


	25. Beauty

Remilia hit the buzzer on her chair, and within a split-second her faithful maid, Sakuya, was before her.

"Yes, m'lady?" Sakuya bowed.

Remilia produced a velvet wallet with money in it. "I would like for you to go do some shopping today. While you are there, I want you to also visit Kourin an pick up any interesting Outside artifacts he might have."

"How come?" Sakuya questioned.

Remilia adjusted her seat. "It was a... special request from Patchouli."

"I see," Sakuya questioned.

"I also included a little extra, so that you may purchase something small for yourself. For all the hard work you do around the mansion, it is only fair that I do so."

Sakuya bowed again. "Thank you, m'lady." The maid quietly walked out of her mistress's room, then down out the mansion's front door, then up and over the front gate.

The overall mood of the mansion had tensed ever since the Ultra Wormhole appeared in the sky just above it. Sakuya, of course, knew the importance of remaining focused on her main task, which was being the tireless head maid of the mansion, cleaning this and that and serving tea and meals to her lady and her coworkers. Even so, she couldn't help but feel a severe apprehension that, with the shrine maiden gone at the hand of something that can rip open inter-dimensional holes, that something ominous would make itself known to Gensokyo. She couldn't even know if Reimu was still alive, much less safe.

And she was perhaps the least concerned of the bunch; Remilia was hardly sleeping, and her lack of sleep was beginning to affect her health. Patchouli was busy in her library, frantically sifting through every book she owned trying to find an explanation for the wormhole and a way to discover where Reimu potentially was, but to no avail. Even Flandre, who was holed up in the bottom of the mansion's cellars due to her destructive tendencies, who even with her childish mannerisms, could still sense that something horrible had happened, and that not even she might be able to defeat the incident's perpetrator if they ever showed their face.

The person whose well-being concerned her the most, however, was Meiling. She was always a vigilant, if easy-going guard, but for several days straight she had been militantly pacing the mansion's outer perimeter with spiked brass knuckles, and even going so far as to neglect watering the garden (that that they needed watering anyway, what with the recent rains). Sakuya just so happened to catch her passing along the front gate, looking around nervously with her fists clenched so tightly they could punch a hole through solid metal.

"You know brass knuckles aren't going to scare whatever tore open that wormhole, right?" Sakuya said crossing her arms.

Meiling stopped and answered her. "I know, I know. It's just that, I..." she looked behind her for a second, before turning back to Sakuya. "I just can't help but try anything that would... would make me feel more comfortable, even if they wouldn't actually work."

"You're letting this situation get to your head," Sakuya told her. "You know there's nothing you can do right now that would make Reimu come back. And even if you could, the perpetrator is still on the loose, and we don't know what they might do next."

"That's what scares me," Meiling replied. "I always feel like," she turned around again to see behind her, then turned back. "I feel like that whatever's out there is gonna snatch me right up and do who knows what!"

"Sounds like anxiety to me," Sakuya said flatly. "And I think you should go get some help." She reached into the wallet and got out the small amount of money Remilia had given her for herself, then handed it over to Meiling. "Right now. Go to Eirin's. She can help you."

Meiling stepped back. Was Sakuya really offering her money to go see the doctor? Part of her was saying it would be impolite and wrong to take it, but Sakuya was being very sincere, and Meiling rationalized that if she practically raised Sakuya then it would be proper for her to return the favor in a time of need.

So, reluctantly, Meiling accepted the money from Sakuya's hand. "Thank you." She then took off in the direction of the bamboo forest. Sakuya did not mind; she didn't feel she really needed or wanted anything for herself, but she couldn't stand to see her good friend and fellow worker suffer from crippling fear. That peace of mind counted as something for herself, she supposed.

She used her watch once again to stop time and travel to the Human Village in a flash. In front of her, two guards at the town gate, put into place to keep unauthorized persons out. But as a member of the Border Patrol, Sakuya was allowed in for business and investigation.

"Sakuya Izayoi," she said to one guard, who pulled out a list of names.

"Sakuya... ah, yes, Ms. Izayoi. You may pass." He opened the gate to let her inside.

* * *

Sakuya looked around as she made her way to Kourindou, her first stop. And all over the village, there was dread an apprehension. Evidence of the stampede from a few days earlier was abundant, as people were still mourning the dead, and the injured were still being nursed. Most people stayed inside their homes, and there was hardly anything out on the street, even animals. And it didn't help that most people kept a fair distance from Sakuya herself, due to her cold, imposing appearance, visible knives on her person, and her status as the chief maid of the vampire's mansion. Sakuya was used to this, of course. What she was not used to was the amount of fear that was present in the air for reasons other than herself.

The only real sign of activity that she could see was off to one side, where various girls were being vetted as potential stand-ins, or worse, replacements, for the errant shrine maiden. All this was being done by one of Yukari's human representatives. Yukari herself never really appeared in the village due to her status and reputation. Instead, she had a number of trusted human allies who did business within the village on her behalf, then reported back to her. Normally, she also had youkai spies doing work as well, but with the newly imposed curfew, she was forced to lean much more heavily on her human allies.

Sakuya continued until she reached a building near the town's edge, hugging the boundary of the Forest of Magic: Rinnosuke's shop, known locally as Kourindou.

Kourin himself was busy rearranging some things on the shelves when he heard the bell over the door ring. He put down his work and went to the counter to see who it was, and was surprised to see none other than Sakuya Izayoi facing him.

"Sakuya! What a surprise! I... wasn't expecting to see you here at a time like this!"

"It's a special request," she answered.

"For the mistress?" He asked.

"For the librarian," she said, "but Remilia sent me here to the village to pick up other things as well. Apparently, Patchouli was interested in studying any new gadgets you might have picked up."

Kourin got up from his chair and walked over to the shelf he was just working on. "Well, I haven't been able to leave the village to visit the Road of Reconsideration to pick up anything that might have fallen there. And I'm sure you're too busy to head out there and try and find anything for yourself. But before then, I did manage to collect a couple things." He pushed aside toys, dolls and knick-knacks, before pulling out an old but still functioning Sony video camera.

"This is an interesting device I picked up about a week before the wormhole appeared. I've collected items like this before; I even sold one to Aya for her to use in her news reports. Basically, it captures moving images and sound, and saves them on this tape." He popped open the side of the camera and pulled out the tape, before popping it into another one of his curiosities, a television circa 1978. Sakuya watched with intrigue as he booted up the tube and inserted the tape. It took a few moments for Rinnosuke to adjust the picture quality, and even then it was still fairly grainy.

"I used this on that day to capture the wormhole in action," he said. Sakuya drew herself in and watched the footage intently. At the beginning, all she could see was the ground shaking as a result of Kourin running with the camera while dodging the mob, before he pointed it up at the sky to get a prominent view of the wormhole. Seeing the wormhole in action once again gave Sakuya chills: while not great, the sound quality was just enough to pick up the electronic hum that the wormhole gave off, while the wormhole itself beamed white light bordered by blue-and-purple fishnet patterns, with lightning crackling within. Above this was the chaotic screams of townsfolk running about, while Kourin struggled to stay in place as he tried to avoid the bedlam in the streets.

The tape was only about three minutes, but to Sakuya it might as well have been three hours, as she relived those still-fresh memories of seeing the wormhole through the baroque windows of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. As the tape ended, she looked up at him.

"Is it possible for me to have this tape?" she asked. "This is exactly the sort of thing Patchouli would love to have for her research."

He thought for a second about whether or not to simply hand the tape over to Sakuya. Sure, she and most of the mansion's staff were rabidly investigating this affair at Yukari's request, but at the same time he didn't want to just give more stuff away as he had done in the past; he would go broke if he did.

"I'll make you a deal," he said. "You can give me 1,000 yen now, and if you return the tape within a day, I'll give you all the money back."

"Deal," Sakuya said. She didn't really mind the cost if she wouldn't end up being able to return it, since by her estimate Remilia had budgeted at least ten times this much for this purpose. So she handed over a 1,000 yen note, and took the tape out of Rinnosuke's hands.

"Are you sure you don't need a way to play that tape?" Kourin asked Sakuya.

"I'm sure she'll be alright. She's a magician, she can figure out a way to watch this without Outside devices."

"Fair point," Kourin replied.

Sakuya bowed toward Kourin and made her way to the door, but just as she was about to leave another person came in through the door. He was portly, and wearing a straw hat and ascot.

Sakuya recognized this person as Marisa's father.

"Good morning, Kourin!" he said.

"Morning," Kourin replied. "What's going on today?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about a couple things about your store, y'know, make sure everything's going good!"

"Of course! In fact, I just made a sale... sort of." He looked to Sakuya, who had moved to the side to give the man room.

"Well, if it isn't the mansion maid herself!" He went over and gave her a big ol' bear hug. This was unusual among Gensokyo residents, but nowhere near unusual for Marisa's father, who was just a friendly lug by nature, and most of the town's residents had just gotten used to it.

"Urg, choking, not breathing!" Sakuya spurted out as she struggled to push him away. Eventually, the man backed off, giving Sakuya the ability to move and catch her breath.

"Huff! Uh, hey there, Mohn, how's it going!"

Mohn replied, "I'm doing just fine myself! And you know, right now I'm happy just to see other people safe and sane, like you!"

Sakuya couldn't help but smile. If there was one person who could break through her general icy demeanor, it almost certainly had to be Mohn.

"It's nice to hear that," Sakuya replied as she went out the door. "I need to continue my shopping for the mansion, but we can catch up over tea another time if that's alright with you."

"Oh, no, go right ahead! I don't mean a mean to be a bother!" he said.

"Of course not," Sakuya said smiling again, before leaving the two men to discuss business. As she walked out, she thought some more about man, and Marisa as well. As well-known and loved as they were in the village, Sakuya was never quite able to pump out much in the way of details regarding their past; as far as she could tell, both of them just kind of appeared one day. Mohn (and Marisa as well) had no apparent connections to anyone else in the village, and they always dodged details regarding their life further back than about fourteen years prior. Marisa at least had the excuse of being a child and not remembering much, but Mohn was a little more suspicious in that regard. Despite that, she had grown to appreciate the old man in ways that made her wish that his daughter wasn't the sticky-fingered irritant that she was.

Fortunately, the main market in town was still open, allowing her to pick up essentials such as fruit, vegetables, tea leaves, rice, sugar, spices, and other assorted foodstuffs. She also kept her eyes peeled for healthy individuals from whom she could potentially draw blood to satisfy her mistress as well as Flandre. She had developed a technique, aided by the use of a special ointment created and used by Kamaitachi that she waylaid to obtain it, which involved stopping time, using one of her silver knives to cut open a wound and collect blood, then using the ointment to patch it up as if nothing happened, before returning to the spot she had been and continuing her business. Her victims usually noticed nothing, aside from a certain weakness and lightheartedness associated with blood loss. Doing this during her trips to the village usually netted enough blood to satisfy her mistress for quite a while.

Once she finished her shopping, she piled her goods against the town gate. She usually purchased more than she could carry back in one trip, so what she typically did was grab a load, stop time, ferry it back to the mansion before going back to the village to get the next load. The blood was almost always in the first load to avoid suspicion, before being followed up by the more innocuous loads. The first couple of loads went off without incident. However, on her way back from the third load, she took a slightly different route she thought would be faster, when she caught sight of a tall, stationary object standing in the middle of a grassy field. She passed closer to it on subsequent trips, and began to make out what looked like the shape of a humanoid cat of some sort. At first, she just thought it was a nekomata or other cat-youkai, but this one seemed different, since it was larger than every nekomata she knew.

Struck by curiosity, and out of a sense of duty for the Border Patrol, she deposited her last load and then lied to the fairy maid on duty about another, special load that she could not safely transport back by stopping time, thus giving her an excuse to go check out the strange figure more closely.

Sakuya arrived with a full deck of high-power spell cards to match any threat the figure was capable of mustering. Even with her power time-space manipulation and skill with knives, she was wise enough to know that you always tread cautiously when dealing with characters you were unfamiliar with.

Coming out of her time-stop outside of where the figure would be able to sense her, she slowly approached it, making note of its physical characteristics. The closer she got, the more she could make out its features: standing about two meters, and primarily off-white in color, except for a large, purple tail slowly twitching back and forth. It stood steadfastly, staring off in the direction of where the river left the Hakurei Border; Sakuya was not sure if this was significant or not.

Sakuya stopped several meters short of the figure, and for a few moments, the only movement was her skirt gently blowing in the wind as she stared it down.

Hesitantly but without fear in her voice, she spoke up:

"Who are you?"

The figure's tail stopped twitching, and it turned around to meet Sakuya's gaze with its piercing, violet eyes and blank expression.

Sakuya did not have a name for the being that now faced her. To anyone else, though, the figure scarcely needed introduction, as its name, which struck fear into the hearts of men, was introduction enough:

Mewtwo.

A being who only knew violence, who only knew how to fight mercilessly. That was, after all, the purpose it was created for, was to fight. And it proved itself effective, by way of killing all the scientists and burning the lab down to the ground. Now it found itself face-to-face with the Scarlet Devil Mansion's head maid, who wielded the power of endless silver knives and manipulation of time.

By surrounding itself in telekinetic energy, it floated in midair, then swept its left hand in a threatening manner.

Sakuya knew what this meant: this figure wanted to fight. And it was unlikely it would let her go until it had that fight.

So she hopped into the air, surrounded herself in knives, and responded, "so you want to fight? I see. Challenge accepted."

She wasted no time firing endless volleys of knives at her opponent, then repeating the volleys with her time manipulation. Each time, Mewtwo was able to deflect the volleys with its psychic power, weaving in and out between the various laser bullets scattered throughout. Once it felt it had an opening, it launched an attack of its own, although it seemed no attack had actually been launched at first.

Sakuya, suspecting a trap, stopped and looked at near-future timelines, and saw one where she was being assaulted by numerous white orbs. A time-delayed attack, it seemed. She eliminated the orbs, then continued attacking her opponent.

Mewtwo sensed that its opponent had nullified Future Sight, once the time it should have struck had come and gone. This combined with Sakuya's ability to dodge its other attacks, including its own laser bullets and spell cards it had created, made it realize that its conventional tactics would not work against her, as it became obvious to it that she possessed time manipulating powers that allowed her to dodge attacks and then bolster her own.

So it shifted tactics by throwing up a barrier to stop some attacks, then using Recover to heal off the damage that Sakuya was doing with her spam of knives and spell cards.

"Illusion Existance 'Clock Corpse!'" "Perfect Square!" "Illusion World!" All around Mewtwo, Sakuya danced around tossing massive amounts of lasers and knives, stopping, accelerating and reorienting time to make them hit with deadly efficiency. Each time, Mewtwo either nullified the attack, or heal the damage. The entire time, it studied her attack pattern and strategy. Each time, she somehow messed with the flow of time in order to dodge and land attacks, and even though she had to stop each time, she still left too little time for it to be able to do meaningful damage. However, it could weather her attacks for quite some time.

So it realized the best way to beat her was to try weaken her, then stall her out until she could no longer effectively fight.

While Sakuya was still attacking, it silently summoned a cloud of Toxic gas, which it held in the places where Sakuya was shifting around. Then, it continued its strategy of just stalling her out.

There was no noticeable effect at first. But as time wore on, it could sense Sakuya's attacks slowing down and becoming increasingly inaccurate and less potent. After a few more minutes of stalling, the gaps between attacks were greatly widened, as the poison began coursing though Sakuya's veins and affected her ability to fight, giving it the one opportunity it needed to further tip the fight in its favor.

By quickly using Psychic, it held Sakuya in place, then stripped her of her watch and knives, which it tossed aside and onto the ground while she struggled to break free of the telekinesis, but to no avail.

Sakuya, normally a calm and cold person, was now panicking, and stopped struggling against it to preserve her strength, realizing that she had been poisoned by the Toxic gas which it had summoned and that struggling more would jeopardize her chances of getting out of this ordeal.

Mewtwo slammed her into the ground, creating cuts and bruises. As Sakuya wrenched herself off of the ground, covered in dust and still reeling from the poison, she saw Mewtwo above her, and realized she was powerless to stop whatever it had in store. And sure enough, it was charging up its signature Psystrike, ready to finish the maid off.

Then, a flash, as Mewtwo was knocked back a ways, making it lose its concentration and causing it to drop the attack.

After recoiling, it sprang back and searched for its attacker. Sakuya too was looking for what may have attacked Mewtwo, before a slim figure suddenly landed in front of her.

She looked up at it, and saw a most peculiar sight: a tall, slim figure resembling a cross between a pretty woman with a veil and a cockroach. Its body resembled a dress, its antennae were long and reached all the way down to the ground, a cape veil, which were actually its wings, drooped down toward the ground behind it, and it had half-circle blue and purple eyes and what looked like a crown on top of its head.

It stared down at Sakuya, then gestured her with its eyes to leave the scene. Sakuya agreed - she mustered the strength to reach her knives and watch, get a hold of them, then use her time manipulation to escape the scene. Immediately after, the fight continued as the cockroach challenged Mewtwo with its superior speed and agility versus Mewtwo's sheer psychic power and extrasensory perception.

* * *

Sakuya re-materialized in one of the bathrooms, where she reached toward an antitoxin medicine kept in one of the drawers (made by Eirin of course), and popped and downed it with water. Within minutes, the medicine took effect, and the poison was cleansed from her system. She then used some of the ointment on her person to patch up her own scrapes.

Afterward, she went downstairs and put away the groceries, then went down to the library with the tape she had obtained from Rinnosuke. Making her way down to the basement level where the library was located, she arrived in front of the heavy oak doors which sealed it off from the rest of the mansion.

She used the special knocker which was loud enough to capture the attention of anyone anywhere in the library. She then waited a few moments, before the door creaked open with Koakuma's face peering from inside.

"Ah, miss Sakuya," she said. "What is it?"

Sakuya handed her the tape. "Tell Patchouli that this tape has very important information regarding this incident," she said to the library devil.

Koakuma took the tape, bowed, then closed the library doors, after which Sakuya went back up stairs to retire until later that evening to attend to her mistress.

It took Koakuma several minutes to navigate the library and locate Patchouli at her study, reading yet another book in her search for clues as to Reimu's disappearance.

"Patchouli-sama," she bowed while presenting the tape. "From Sakuya. She says it's very important."

Patchy took the tape from her hand and looked at it. "Ah, an Outside videotape. I will examine it. You may get back to your work." She excused the library devil, who took off to other parts to the library to sort books. She got to work immediately, translating the information on the tape into a hologram that she could watch though the use of various enchanted artifacts. It took about an hour given the complexity of the tape compared to the texts she was used to doing this on, but eventually managed to project the tape's contents, which provided her first sighting of the wormhole. What she saw stunned her: in all her years of studying magic, she had never come across anything quite like this. Because it was a hologram rather than the real thing, she had no way of being able to "feel" the nature of the wormhole. Regardless, it was clear from looking at the footage that it was no mere border incursion, but rather a rip in the fabric of time and space that transcended the nature of the Hakurei Border.

The normally astute and well-studied librarian slumped back in her seat as she took in the reality of the situation. The more she thought, the more she realized that, as scary as the wormhole and Reimu's disappearance was, the prospect of the thing that was actually responsible for creating it and starting this incident in the first place being on the loose terrified her even more, simply because whatever created that wormhole was easily bigger than any threat that had faced Gensokyo in the time she had been here. For once in her life, she was terrified.

As she stared at the playback, another library devil came by, holding a book between her two arms.

"Patchouli-sama?" she said meekly.

Patchouli snapped out of her trance and looked over at the library devil. "What is it?"

The library devil presented the book to her, which featured a stylized sun and moon on the cover, along with a title in an unknown language. "I discovered this in the far side of the library. I was organizing books, and discovered it where a necronomicon is usually kept. I know because I usually sort that particular shelf often."

Patchy took the book from the library devil. "Then, I will examine it and determine its properties." Again, she excused the library devil, who returned to her work.

She brushed aside her other work and cracked open the book, skimming through it to try and discover its secrets. But she was stymied by the unusual script, which was unlike virtually any writing and cipher system she had knowledge of. There were pictographs on some of the pages, but they provided little context to the unreadable text. After looking at several hundred pages, she was just about to cast it aside, when she turned one final page...

"...mother of God," she muttered, wide-eyed, as her finger drew to the pictograph on that page.


	26. Wonder Tag

The sky was orange, orange as the berries that hung low on the branches of trees lining the trail to the Ruins of Life. The sun was setting over the horizon, the sea breeze gentle as the tide revealed the Krabbys over which the Wingull fought over and picked apart with their beaks. Above in the trees, Crabrawlers standing on the tops of them would throw berries at the other until one was splatted.

And then a certain Eevee jumped into the air, intercepted the berry, and came back down on top of Reimu's head, clenching it squarely in her mouth while wagging her tail.

"That's one skilled little Eevee you've got there," Olivia told Reimu.

"Oh, well, uh, yes," Reimu replied, reaching up to pet her. "She's definitely something else. I can't quite explain it."

Of course, small beings who had no right to be strong and yet were was no foreign concept for Reimu. But all of them had the benefit of magic, infinite regeneration, flight and in some cases literal divine intervention. Eevee, on the other hand, was just an anomalously powerful animal with no apparent magic or energy attacks in a place filled with creatures who wield all those, including each of her other Pokemon except Stardust. Again, it continued to amaze her how many surprises lurked around each corner, once she thought she had seen it all.

The group, which consisted of Reimu, Hau, Lillie and the Kahuna Olivia, walked along a trail following sea bluffs toward the Ruins of Life, said to be the haunt of Tapu Lele. Along the way was a graveyard. After feeling her Pokeball jiggle, Lillie let Haunter out to play with some of the other ghost Pokemon who lurked between the graves.

Reimu watched, seeing the Haunter scare a bunch of Misdreavus before being scared itself by a Trevenant.

"Do they always do this?" Reimu confided to Lillie.

"Well, I did learn in school that Ghost Pokemon like to scare each other just to see who can out-scare the others."

Reimu nodded. Ghosts and phantoms in Gensokyo did something similar, and of course there was the half-phantom gardener who was scared of ghosts despite her mistress being one. And being in another realm did not change that fact, it seemed.

They continued on, with Haunter catching up with them a short while later and Lillie recalling her. The walk was uneventful aside from Reimu telling some more about herself and where she came from, all of which of course was very interesting for the young kahuna.

"So, what is your job, exactly?" Olivia asked her.

"I am the maiden and keeper of the Hakurei Shrine," Reimu replied. "I have a lot of duties, but my main ones are maintaining the balance of humans and youkai in Gensokyo, and resolving incidents that threaten Gensokyo in general. It's a job that's been in my family for a thousand years."

Olivia's eyes widened in surprise. "Your family goes back a thousand years?"

"That's correct. One thousand years, ever since Yukari and other elders and sages made my ancestor Kasumi Hakurei the first maiden of the shrine for that purpose. Specifically, they declared that each successive maiden would always have at least once child, a girl who could take over the duty from her mother usually around the age of twelve, although I took up the reins at only eight since…" Reimu trailed off, not wanting to elaborate on her mother's death. "...reasons."

"I see," Olivia mused. "You obviously come from a long and powerful line. Which is funny, because we have very long family lines ourselves, including one that is much, much older than yours."

Reimu looked up. "Wait, even longer than mine?"

"Yes. They are a powerful family, and very long lived, more than three thousand years, and you are standing right next to one of them." Olivia looked over at Lillie, who took a moment to realize what was going on before stepping back in shock.

Reimu looked over to her, somewhat surprised herself. "Lillie? That's true?"

Lillie staggered, "uh, yeah, it is!" She took a moment to regain her composure before going further. "Yes, so, my family is one of the oldest and most influential on the planet because of how far we go back. In fact, my ancestors, who come from Kalos, made up one of the most important manors during the Great War and were involved in many battles. According to legend, my family in particular is descended from one of the princes of the house and a girl rescued from near a castle that was destroyed around the time the Ultimate Weapon was fired. Since then, it's been said, the good men of my family have worked to keep another war from sparking, among other things."

Reimu stepped back in awe. "You never told me your family was that powerful and important!"

"It is," Lillie nodded. "I came from a very rich household, but ran away after my mother went... crazy. That's why I live with the professor: the court doesn't think my mom is stable enough to have custody of me, but of course she disagrees."

Reimu looked down and said softly, "sorry to hear that," while touching Lillie's shoulder. In just a couple minutes, they realized they were more alike than they thought, coming from long and old lineages and having mothers who couldn't care for them.

Hau walked up to comfort the two of them as well. "Hey, don't be so sad. Even if your family can't be there, we can still pick and be with our friends, right?"

Lillie looked at him, smiling slightly. "I suppose. This quest has made me realize the value of good friends, and I'm sure Reimu agrees." Reimu nodded, realizing how much she leaned on her friends to be the family she didn't have. And it wasn't like Hau was unsympathetic, given his own experiences with his father, a "bad boy" who constantly fought with Hala and who eventually moved away to start a new life and family. And Hau wasn't even sure who his mother was, since she left his father just after he was born. So he was essentially raised by Hala as Hala's own child, a fact that Hau did not mind much since his father never really cared for him. Even so, Hau quickly came to know the value of good friends, which was why he was swift to befriend Lillie despite the age and gender difference. And now, an odd trio had formed between them: a young, energetic boy, a runaway, and a cross-dimensional castaway on the same quest for different outcomes.

* * *

It was some time more before the group eventually walked up to the pair of stone pillars that marked the Ruins of Life being near… as well as a couple Team Skull grunts squatting on top of some rocks to one side.

Reimu rolled her eyes and addressed them. "Lookout duty, I'm assuming?"

One of them looked over to see the Red-an-White death staring straight at them and nearly fell backwards off the rock in shock.

"Whoa! Don't sneak up like that!" They clambered off the rock to get a better look. Yep, Red-and-White death, and she brought the squad, too.

"This is bad, yo!" one said to the other.

"Yo, I heard she can rip a mountain apart with her bare hands, yo!"

Well, _Suika _could, Reimu thought…

Both grunts danced at each other trying to figure out what to do, before coming to the most logical conclusion: getting the hell outta Dodge.

"Let's bolt, bro!"

"Yo!"

So the two pushed past the group and ran up the hill above them.

"Oof," Reimu grunted straightening herself back up. "For cowards, you'd think they'd be just a tad more considerate…"

"They do this a lot," Olivia told her. "They try to scare trial-goers and act all tough, but usually run once they're outmatched. Sometimes they just dance and do absolutely nothing. But I've never seen them run away that quickly. Looks like you've built up quite the reputation for yourself already," she said with a haughty laugh.

Everyone got a good chuckle out of that one. Then, however, a figure came around the corner, apparently talking to someone over her phone.

"...no, you don't get what I'm saying, Guzma. They're all scared of her, worried she'll rip out their skulls or something. It's making our search for the-"

She glanced over at the group and took sight of Reimu almost immediately.

"...I'll call you back." She hung up and put the phone away.

The lady, who looked like a big-time goth with her overall appearance, over exaggerated twintails, and black eyeliner, looked at Reimu with a strong sense of anticipation.

"Well, look what fate put in front of me," she said blankly.

Reimu studied her appearance and saw the various Team Skull emblems on her clothes and body. She figured this person was some sort of big-time in the gang.

"You must be part of Team Skull," she said.

"Hmph, well, there's no fooling you, that's for sure," the lady replied sarcastically. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name's Plumeria. You could say I'm the 'mom' of Team Skull, because I take care of all these guys so they don't get into too much trouble."

Reimu stood unfazed. "The 'mom' huh? Well, if you say so, then why do they get into trouble so much that I have to punish them?" Her voice shifted toward more of a mocking, playful tone.

"Because you know how kids are," Plumeria snarked back, playing Reimu's game. "You ask them to do one thing like stand and watch and as soon as you turn your back they start dancing and making a fool of themselves. I'm here to make sure they don't do that."

"So an enforcer?" Reimu said adjusting her shades.

"No, that's Gladion's job," Plumeria answered, "and they don't take him seriously because he can't respect them either."

Gladion. That name struck sudden realization into Lillie, but she didn't show it there and then, not wanting to give herself away more than she likely was already.

"No respect," Reimu smirked tossing a Pokeball up and down. "And you wonder why I've had to discipline such _naughty _children like the good nanny I am."

If Plumeria had a reaction to this, she wasn't showing it. Instead, she swiftly reached into her bag, grabbed a Pokeball, and threw it out to summon the Salazzle that was kept inside.

Reimu caught her ball containing Magneton and smiled, "well. Now that's very rude. A Poison-type that can also burn up any Steels thrown at it."

Plumeria didn't even change her emotion. "So you know this one?"

"Well, when you have this irritant," Reimu said pointing at an unamused Rotom, "talking in your ear all day, you pick up all sorts of things. I'll make you a deal: I don't feel like stirring up a storm right here and now with Gyarados, so why don't we settle this with competitive ladies' rules?" As she said that, she tossed out another ball and out came Sasha, tail twitching and raring for a fight. "Fight fire with fire?"

Plumeria slumped. "A fire fight it is then."

As soon as they said that, each gave out their respective commands. Salazzle opened with a stream of poisonous gas, which Sasha dodged and responded to in kind by headbutting the cliff to send rocks down on top of the lizard's head.

For a moment, it seemed the battle would end there, before the rocks began to smoke, char, and melt, before exploding into fire and fury like a volcano, spewing steam and toxic fumes everywhere. This salacious salamander wasn't about to go down that easily.

Salazzle then let loose a cloud of pheromones, which drew every Salandit within smelling distance toward the fight. Sasha, finding himself outmatched by the horde of horny minions, acted quickly to fend them off by first dashing along a drop-off, which caused a couple of them to fall into the sea, but the others continued their pursuit at the command of their master, belching flames and sludge the whole way. Soon they backed him against a rock wall, closing in and threatening to poison him to death. But Sasha was not about to be defeated: he kicked the wall with his hind feet, which caused more rocks to tumble down onto the minions; more importantly, though, it caused a Gible to be dislodged from its hiding spot underground.

In Alola, Gible and its evolved forms were natural predators of Salandit. As soon as it recovered and got a good look at the smorgasbord in front of it, it dove right into them, succeeding in eating one and driving the rest off. Sasha and Salazzle actually stopped for a moment to watch the baby Pokemon rip the Salandit apart and chomp it up the way Gomorrah would eat something from Paradiso, before tunneling back into the rock face.

Sasha was still watching this when Salazzle decided to sucker-punch him with a Sludge Bomb, which not only knocked him back a few meters but also poisoned him. The fire cat struggled to stand back up, using all of his willpower to fight off the toxins.

"C'mon, Sasha!" Reimu cheered, reaching for a lum berry and tossing it to him. Although Sasha was crippled, he managed to jump up and catch the berry in his mouth. Within moments, he shook off the poison, and jumped back into the action. Only this time, he began running on his hind legs as he barreled straight toward Salazzle, an amusing sight to behold, before being engulfed in white light and changing shape. Salazzle tried to get out of Dodge, but was soon in the iron grip (by the neck) of the newly evolved Incineroar.

The two stared at each other for a few moments. On one side, a smooth, salacious lizard, and on the other, a bara kitty with the glare of a snake and the fangs of a wild animal.

Sasha then punched the ground with his other hand, which caused a segment of wrestling rope to erupt from the ground, much to Reimu's confusion. Sasha then hurled Salazzle right at them, which caused her to rebound and prompted Sasha to strike her with a powerful lariat, sending Salazzle sky-high. The whole time, Salazzle smiled with her tongue out as if she were enjoying the beatdown. Salazzle's Pokeball automatically recalled her before she even hit the ground.

Plumeria stood there for a moment, before remarking, "...well then."

Incineroar slammed his together and flexed as Reimu came up to him and congratulated him, which caused him to recoil away as if to say "not right now mom, I'm having a moment." Reimu giggled lightly before turning to Plumeria again.

"Well _then _," Reimu answered with the same haughty, upturned tone from before. "Looks like I had to punish Salazzle the same way as the others. Also, a real shame what happened to that Salandit, I'm sure Gible enjoyed his meal."

Plumeria huffed, before responding, "I guess you actually are everything they say." She walked past them back toward town, leaving the path to the ruins unimpeded.

Reimu turned toward the rest of the group. Lillie was silent, Hau was fiddling with his 3DS before realizing Reimu was looking at him and hastily put it in his pocket. Olivia, of course, was impressed.

"Well, I'm sure that was a good warm-up," she smiled.

Reimu flipped her hair. "I'm sure Sasha thought so." She turned to Sasha, who immediately looked away crossing his arms and huffed. But internally, he was proud of his trainer for getting him this far so quickly compared to other Littens. He was just hugely conflicted on how to show this admiration and affection for her in front of other people without dropping his kayfabe. Reimu understood, though: Sasha was far from the only person she knew with that type of personality. She recalled him back to his Pokeball, before the group continued to the Ruins of Life.

* * *

As they approached the Ruins, the air grew silent and oppressive. Winds blew quietly, the waves gently splashed against the shore, no birds or other animals could be heard. And Reimu could swear an eerie hum was being emitted from the entrance. Which was surrounded in religious tribal paint.

Olivia walked up to just in front of the entrance, before turning to the group with a more determined smile on her face and crossing her arms.

"Welcome, trial-goers," she said in an intimidating tone and with an intimidating look. "I, Kahuna Olivia, swore to Tapu Lele that I would uphold the tradition of the Island Challenge on Akala Island. Ever since I was a little girl, I've had a rock-hard personality - my parents did not name me after Olivine for nothing. That's why I chose to train Rock-type Pokemon - their bodies are literally rock-hard, and so are their personalities and desire for battle. And I can assure you: they will grind your Pokemon to dust. So, with that in mind, who shall challenge me first?"

It was mutually agreed among the group that if Lillie went first, there would be no Grand Trial for the other two. Hau decided to step up to the plate on Reimu's and Lillie's encouragement: the little boy had a reputation to build, determination to prove, strength and skill to show off. For once, he was taking this trial dead-seriously, with no hint of his laid-back persona to be seen.

For the girls, it was a first, and the first real evidence to Reimu that Hau was committed to becoming a strong trainer. And strong trainer he proved to be: despite a type weakness, Hedwig's onslaught of leaves, Crabrawler's endless flurry of punches and Raichu's intense lightning proved too much for Olivia's Rock-types to handle, and they folded without even managing to knock any of Hau's Pokemon out.

And that was perhaps the least embarrassing performance on Olivia's part: Reimu's Pokemon proved even more brutal, what with Sasha shoving Lycanroc's head into the ground and Lucario's Aura Sphere launching Cradily into the entrance to the ruins. As if to pity Olivia, Reimu sent Eevee out against Boldore just to try and make the battle more even, but even then, all it took was a couple of well-placed Digs before Boldore crumbled to the tiny mammal.

Finally, Lillie tried to limit herself by using Bagon and Haunter against Lycanroc, but this time it managed to defeat them with only some trouble, and she wasn't willing to put Snowy on the line, forcing her to resort to Adele. All it took was one look at Adele before Lycanroc ran running the other direction yelping like a puppy, and each of Olivia's other Pokemon refused to fight her, forcing Olivia to concede the match.

"Haaahh," Olivia puffed using her last Revive on her Pokemon. "I knew you were all tough but," she regained her posture, "I never thought I'd get so thoroughly thrashed."

"That's the problem with Rock-types," Reimu smirked. "They look tough, but they're brought down in so many different ways."

"This is true," Olivia told her. "And I'm sure you know, each trial involves a certain type, but most trainers also know that you need a diverse team to meet diverse threats. And unfortunately for Rock pokemon, they have enough different weaknesses that they often fail in battle even under seasoned trainers."

"Then why even bother with just one type?" Reimu asked. "Why not mix it up?"

Olivia smiled. "Because, we want to show trainers that they can't rely on only one strategy to win. Rock may have many weaknesses, but they also resist moves a new trainer's Pokemon might come to rely on. You can't easily break my friends by just hitting them, their rock-hard bodies will just laugh it off!" She strutted around. "It's only when they mix up their teams and strategies that they learn that Rock pokemon are much easier to break than they seem and stop being ground to dust by them. And not even just their weaknesses: Rocks may laugh at physical attacks, but most fall prey to energy and magic attacks, for example. An Alakazam can shatter a boulder with its mind just as well as a Machamp can break it with its fists, or a Venusaur can tear it apart with its vines. And then you meet the Steel trainer whose Pokemon withstand most attacks but are melted by flames, or the bird Pokemon who fly over your Earthquakes but whose wings are clipped with electricity or by cold. And even if you don't have the correct moves or types, all it takes is a bit of quick thinking and a willingness to improvise to turn the tide. And all three of you have demonstrated these principles in one way or another."

With that, she reached into her pink fanny pack, and pulled out three, brown crystals with a telltale rock symbol on them. "And for that, not only have each of you earned the Rockium-Z, but also the seal of Akala Island." She tossed the crystals, and each of the three caught it flawlessly, although in Reimu's case that was because Eevee was all too willing to catch it in her mouth like a dog catching a bone.

Reimu looked at her on the ground, wagging her tail and giving her adorable puppy eyes. Reimu couldn't hold it in and did a spit-take, to Lillie, Hau and Olivia's silent amusement.

"It's not funny!" Reimu stammered while blushing. "It's just… she's a good girl! She's a good girl like Sanae is a good -"

She realized what she was saying right then, and tried to walk it back, but failed.

"Well then, why don't scratch Sanae behind the ears like a good girl?" Lillie suggested.

"..."

So Reimu scratched Sanae behind the ears.

* * *

"I think you've got a very spunky little Eevee," Lillie told Reimu. Behind them, Sanae and Snowy were playing with a discarded Krabby shell, the two pawing at and jumping back from the shell as it twitched around. Sanae went up to it, sniffed it, and began to lick it, trying to get at whatever meat was inside.

Reimu looked over her shoulder, and replied back, "certainly looks like it. I mean, she knocked out a demon, basically, literally seconds after she was born. She's no Adele, but she keeps me on my toes like my rival back home does."

It was late at night, long after the grand trial back in front of the ruins. Mallow had agreed to host them for the night, and the two excused themselves after dinner to go take a walk. "Girl talk," Lillie told a pouting Hau, but Mallow was able to allay him with homemade malasadas. Lillie led Reimu to a spot, next to the lighthouse and on top of a fifty-foot cliff, with a sweeping view of the bay, illuminated by the bright full moon shimmering on the calm, rippling waters of Konikonki Bay.

Reimu looked up at the moon. "You know, it's big and bright tonight."

"Yes," Lillie nodded. "They say on nights like this, the Island Guardians come out and call to the moon, pledging their allegiance to Lunala. At least, that's what they taught us in school."

Reimu acknowledged her, then gave her own anecdote. "When I was small, Yukari told me all about how the first youkai were born from the fears of men, given life and physical form by the moon's light. She also told me about how other monsters got their power from the moon, such as the vampires of Europe."

Lillie chimed into this, "That's funny you say that, because there are also Pokemon who come out on nights like this and, well, there's Pokemon like Clefairy who dance around in circles and sing to the moon."

"Oh, so just like fairy rings," Reimu said.

"Exactly," Lillie answered. "And not just Clefairy: there are others like Nidoran who call out to the moon as well. In fact, there's a place in Kanto called Mt. Moon which is chock full of moon stones, which causes them and other Pokemon to evolve. There's a legend there that claims that the whole mountain fell to earth a long time ago, full of the first of those Pokemon, and that it was actually a spaceship, and those inside were residents of the moon escaping a war there, and so they call out to the moon on full moon nights in hopes of going home one day."

"That sounds a lot like the Lunarian story I told a couple nights back," Reimu remarked.

"Yeah, I know, and I still think that's weird. A whole city of space people on the moon hidden from everything else. How does that work?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Reimu said to her, "but Yukari got the idea for the Hakurei Border from the magical barrier that the Lunarians set up to hide themselves."

Lillie was about to say something, but then she heard a distant fluttery cry off in the distance.

"Did you hear that?" she asked.

Reimu focused for a second. "No, not really. Did you hear something?"

"I thought I did. I thought I heard…" Lillie looked around for a bit, then noticed a small figure in the sky, against the moon.

Lillie focused her ears and tried to listen again for a sound.

"...lelele…"

Her eyes widened, and a smile stretched across her face.

"Reimu! Look! It's Tapu Lele!" She tugged on Reimu's sleeve while pointing, trying to get her to see it.

"Where? Wait, I don't see - " Then she saw it. The Island Guardian, just fluttering around, casting off dust into the sky.

Various things criss-crossed Reimu's mind in that moment, as she sat there, staring blankly at the Guardian Deity. She thought about Yuyuko, whom Tapu Lele reminded her heavily of. Two beings, with long, pink hair and butterfly motifs. Both known for being trolling tricksters, Reimu almost wondered if Tapu Lele was some sort of analogue of Yuyuko in this realm. Jokingly, she also wondered if it had a friend who was like Yukari. If that were the case, then Reimu wouldn't know what to think.

"Reimu?" Lillie asked, waving a hand in front of Reimu's face.

"Mmh? Oh, sorry, I was just lost in thought," Reimu said looking at Lillie.

Lillie giggled slightly. "That's alright. You do that a lot, it seems."

"Yeah," Reimu said blankly. "Sorry, I was just thinking about another person from Gensokyo. The one from the cherry blossom incident, Yuyuko. Tapu Lele reminded me of her."

Lillie smiled. "Heh, seems like there's a lot of people from your home that are like Pokemon, aren't there?"

Reimu shrugged. "I don't know, maybe I'm just drawing comparisons to make this place feel more like home. If you were far from home, you'd do the same thing, right?"

"I suppose," Lillie conceded. "We've gone to Kanto a couple times, but other than that, I haven't really ever left Alola so far in my life. And I've certainly never been lost, although then again I did leave home because mother was becoming irrational."

"Yeah, how DID that come about?" asked Reimu. "You mention it here and there, but…"

She could see Lillie getting very mum.

"Oh, uh, yeah, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."

"Thank you," Lillie answered. "It's just… well, not something I like to talk about."

Reimu understood. Her mother died, but perhaps what happened to Lillie's mother was worse, since Lillie implied that she had spent a long time watching her mother slowly go insane for some unknown reason. Reimu had seen others slip in sanity, but she couldn't imagine living with someone and watch it happen in real-time.

So she huffed and turned back around… and got a face full of Tapu.

"GYAAH!" Reimu flailed her arms and fell back to the ground. Tapu Lele laughed to itself, clearly taking some amusement from Reimu's surprise. Lillie was surprised too, just because of how suddenly Tapu Lele had swooped down.

Reimu got herself back up, holding her head since she had hit it on the ground.

"Owww… what was that for?!" she groaned.

"I told you," Lillie said, "they're… kind of jerks."

"I can see that," Reimu snarked.

Once Tapu Lele had had its fun, it tilted its head off to the side and pointed toward the lighthouse, then moved in that direction.

"Ok," Reimu mused, "it must want to show us something." The two got up and followed Lele around to a point past the lighthouse near what looked like a shack up against the side of the mountain. Then, it just kind of floated there, as if waiting for someone or something to arrive.

"What's in the shack?" Reimu asked Lillie.

"I don't know," Lillie replied. Neither one of them knew, but Tapu Lele was apparently very adamant about showing them something.

"Looks like Tapu Lele's taken an interest in you two," a voice called out from behind.

Reimu turned around and saw a spiky-haired woman walking up to them.

"I'm sorry, you are?" she asked.

The lady stood there, pleasantly surprised. "Well, if it isn't Reimu Hakurei, the girl in the wormhole. No wonder Tapu Lele was interested in you." She crossed her arms and smiled. "You can call me Bridgette. And that's my house over there."

Reimu turned around, and could see Lele open the door for them, before turning around.

"You're house, huh? Then why would a Guardian Deity lead us here, of all places?"

Bridgette then walked up to Lele and gave it a fist-bump. "You could say we have sort of a unique relationship. Maybe it's because I moved here from far away, or maybe it's what I do, but it certainly took notice in me, and now you could say we're sort of friends."

"What do you do?" asked Reimu.

"Why don't you follow me in and let me show you?" Bridgette said to her, leading the two girls inside the modest bungalow and down a set of stairs.

At the bottom of the flight, there was only a dark room. One flip of the switch, however, was all it took to reveal a disorganized basement full of computer mainframes, discarded fast-food wrappers, and dot-matrix sheets scattered about.

"Very clean place," Reimu snarked, as she was want to do a lot lately.

Bridgette shifted various bits of junk out of the way on the way to a plush armchair in front of a plasma screen with several windows open on it. "This is my office. I help manage the Pokemon Storage System, or PSS for short."

She clicked on an icon, which brought up a database full of usernames and a search bar. "I can see what kinds of Pokemon are being moved around in people's boxes, and I do this to make sure everything is running smoothly." She then punched in Reimu's name, which pulled up the two boxes of Pokemon she was currently using. "For instance, I can see each of the five Ditto's you caught earlier today. I can see when they were deposited, and if I dig a little deeper…" she right-clicked one of the Ditto's, which brought up a side window full of blue-and-red complicated code. "I can also see the circumstances under which the Pokemon was caught. I see that you caught this one with an Ultra Ball at full vitality."

Reimu was impressed, but also justifiably concerned about how her activities were being monitored in this way.

"Oh, that's perfectly normal," Bridgette reassured her. "We never release this information to anyone, except the authorities if we need to. People do try to store drugs and weapons with their Pokemon on the PSS. Besides, the main reason we tinker around with this info is to fix bugs in the system, since I'm sure the last thing you want to happen to your companions is for them to be hit with a data corruption."

Reimu, glossing over this rare sentence, responded, "well, sure, but it's just… I didn't realize there were so many ways I was being… _watched _. I mean, Yukari eavesdrops on me all the time back home, but it's not like everything I'm doing is being logged by some guy eating a burger looking at a screen."

Bridgette thought for a moment, about how she was explaining technology to someone from essentially a medieval society, then said to her, "well, I suppose it would be a shock for someone not used to it. It would be a shock if I were thrown to wherever you're from and not have all this."

Point taken, Reimu thought.

She filed it in the back of her mind, then moved onto her next question. "Alright, so I heard that Pokemon in Pokeballs are kept in, like, environments that their species is native to. I don't know how that works, but I guess I've seen weirder. But what about this? Pokemon up on a machine?"

"Good question," Bridgette answered. "There are two versions. The first one, is the same as when they're in their Pokeballs, except the Pokeballs they are in are converted into data. Functionally, a Pokemon will notice nothing different. But recently, something new is being tried for people concerned about their Pokemon's well-being. People can now opt to send their Pokemon off to Pokeparks and daycares straight from the PC. It costs money, of course, but trainers swear it makes their Pokemon stronger and happier."

Reimu had noticed only a single Pokepark her whole time in the islands. It was a place which had play structures, ropes, a pond, a training range and a shooting range for special attacks just up the hill from Haou'oli City. Lillie explained to her that Pokeparks weren't really a big thing in Alola, since the relaxed nature of the region and the great weather it got meant that trainers more commonly just let their Pokemon out to roam freely in the sand, sea and sky and interact with other trainer's Pokemon. Of course, obviously it was impossible to let every Pokemon you own out all at once given the six Pokemon limit, so this still seemed a good alternative for anyone who cared.

But these were all just random thoughts running around in her head, her way of wrapping her mind around such an unfamiliar place.

She looked around at all the machines, stacked up on racks lining the walls of the basement. All around, colored switches, flashing buttons and the constant whir of cooling fans composed the ambience of the basement. It was a large amount of technology in one place for someone from a medieval society that ran on magic more than anything else, and reminded her of Nitori's similarly cluttered cave. Heck, the only things missing were a half-finished toaster oven mecha in the corner of the room with wrenches scattered about and cucumber bits on the floor.

After Bridgette finished explaining the Storage System to the two, she led them both upstairs and got a pot of tea going, while they chatted long into the night about Reimu's experiences. The whole time, Tapu Lele was outside, watching the conversation and paying particular attention to Reimu. Reimu felt uneasy about this, but Brigette assured her that this sort of thing was normal for the Island Guardian, and they all went back to conversing.

Eventually, around midnight, Tapu Lele left, while the girls inside started getting drowsy in spite of the caffeine.


	27. You Never Can Tell

As the sun rose, light shone through the expansive windows, gently illuminating the intricate quilts and blankets on the bed, where two girls slept peacefully.

The light, straight as a beam and with dusty bits dancing about within it, crept up the bed, until it eventually tickled one of the girl's faces. Mumbling and murmuring, she rolled around, before eventually rising up with a stretch and a light groan, her cloudy eyes fluttering until they adjusted to the brightness of the room.

Her first thought, once fully awake, was to look over to her sister and get her up as well.

"Hey, hey," she whispered, shaking her sister. "Merry, it's time to wake up."

"Hm… uhng… huh?" Merry said to her sister, waking from her peaceful sleep and barely conscious.

"It's light out, Merry."

"Uh… ah… ah!" Merry fully snapped up then, and looked out at the brilliant sunrise just outside the manor.

Just then, the door to their room opened, and a maid came in. "It's time to get up, girls!" She said, clapping her hands. And just as they had been taught by their mother, the two slipped out of bed, and followed the maid into the washroom in order to get cleaned up, dressed up and presentable. They were both only about eight, but their manners were still top-notch, and an example that other royal children and subjects were held to.

Within an hour of waking up they were led down to the dining room for breakfast. There, their mother was busy, helping the cooks with making and serving breakfast. When she saw the two little girls come down the stairs, she couldn't help to meet them and help them get ready for their schooling.

"Morning momma!"

Their mother smiled. "Now, now, Violet, is that anyway for a lady to greet her mother in the morning?"

Violet blushed, and covered her mouth. "Good morning, mother."

"That's more like it!" The girl's mom sat down at the table, and so did the girls, after the servants pulled up their chairs for them. At the same time, Sigilyph carrying bowls of porridge and fruit came out of the kitchen, serving the food to the girls, while another came out with cups and saucers filled with sweet tea. Like all mornings, mom was on hand to remind the girls on how to handle a teacup, eat properly from a bowl, and not to messily bite into the fruit which was cut up and use silverware. But the girls were so disciplined already, that she barely had to do so.

Once done with breakfast and cleaned up, their mother came up to them as they were to be led to the school room elsewhere in the manor. "I have a very special surprise for you today," she said to them. The girls, curious as to what this surprise might be, looked on with curiosity as she opened the door. On the other side, was their father, Lord Cloud, back from a long, arduous campaign on the eastern front.

The girl's eyes lit up like candles, and eagerly ran up to him to glomp him.

"Daddy!" they cried out, hugging him on both sides.

"Whoa, hey!" he exclaimed, picking both of them up with each arm and twirling them around as each girl screamed and giggled, before putting them back down. "How are my little princesses today?"

"You're gone too much!" Merry pouted, albeit lovingly with a taut smile.

"You're always away!" Violet parroted.

"Well, I'm here now, just for you!" He smiled. "We'll be having dinner together tonight, and we'll be having just the most scrumptious baked bread and fish. And," he said, raising a finger, "I made sure that, for your good behavior and manners, that the cooks whipped up your favorite strawberry cake - "

He did not have to say more. Both girls had wide, open smiles and stars in their eyes.

"Well, alright then! Now, be good in your lessons today!" He walked out of the room, delighted that his girls still loved him so, and were growing into wonderful young ladies indeed.

Of course, he was probably more glad to see them than they were. This break was well-deserved, but would only be a few days before invariably having to go back to the front, directing his men against the Novogradians. After ten years of war, he and others were beginning to wonder if it would ever end. The number of death notices he had to write to grieving families, and the number of Gyarados' eating soldiers alive, only for the same Gyarados to be spreared through the heart and left to die on the battlefield, their hysterical owners mourning their loss as if their child had been killed. As well as other losses on the battlefield, and the sheer viciousness of the quagmire. It occurred to him that his daughters never knew peace; shielded as they were, there was no way to hide at least some of the reality of war from them.

He hung his head low as he entered his war room. There, at least, he was greeted by Sir Robin, a longtime friend from Galar and a crackerjack tactician and strategist, known for his mastery with fire and electric Pokemon. It was with his guidance that Cloud was able to tip the balance toward the coalition against the Novogradians.

Immediately, Sir Robin rolled out a map of the battlefield, which he had drawn from atop his Charizard during several risky reconnaissance missions. His Pikachu sat at the edge of the table, eyeing the map with curiosity.

"So," Cloud asked, "what should our next move be?"

Sir Robin looked up at him briefly. "I've managed to secure more reinforcements from Galar, which include a number of Dragonite, Salamence and other powerful Pokemon to help reinforce our offensive pushes, and keep our gains within the disputed region."

"Excellent," Cloud remarked.

Sir Robin drew on the map with a quill. "Our most recent six-month campaign successfully beat the imperial forces back to their borders, and their allies have been subjugated. We also successfully managed to cut off most of their supply lines, and there are no mountains or other natural barriers between the frontlines and their capital. I estimate it should be at most six months before the Kalosian flag is planted atop Tsar Vladamir's palace."

Sir Robin then drew Cloud's attention to a point on the map between where they were in Anistar City and Terminus Cave. "However, when I was poring over possible routes of attack, I did find a danger in the form of Andalou Pass, which is currently under-guarded by coalition forces. The Novogradians may decide to send a small, covert force through the upper Bo valley should they manage to dislodge forts stationed along that route at the southern end of the disputed lands, a campaign they could potentially launch by diverting south through the mountains around our front lines. Should they do that, they could cross the pass and launch an attack on Lumiose, the easiest route to which would go through Anistar. I'm going to insist to King Francois, or as I like to call him AZ, that he designate more forces to this region."

Cloud rubbed his chin. "The last I spoke to him, he said he was working on a 'superweapon' of some description that could supposedly end the war, but he's not letting else on anything about it. Personally, I think it's rubbish. There's no such thing as a weapon so powerful it could just end a war. I don't think even Gyarados's Hyper Beam is strong enough to decimate an entire battalion, much less a whole army. To do that would take something along the lines of trying to summon Yveltal to wipe out the opposing army, and of course no one is demented or desperate enough to try _that _."

Sir Robin looked back at his map. "Well, superweapon or no, this area does need to be guarded. And I cannot re-designate any forces to do so in a way that would not compromise the main push. I am aware that lord Kirisame's army is due to return from a naval campaign within the next few days, so I could suggest that they be sent to guard the area during our assault."

Lord Kirisame. Cloud never really thought highly of the man, or the rest of the House of Kirisame for that matter. Although well-regarded for their various exploits, to Cloud they came off as cocky, reckless and driven by glory and fortune more than anything else. That he managed to come this far into the war and not get killed seemed a miracle. It certainly didn't help that Kirisame was his arch-rival for the king's favor, or that Kirisame made suggestions at meetings that his son marry one of Cloud's daughters while giving him endless grief about not having a male heir. Cloud did not care so much about a lack of a son, but he knew that under no circumstances would he ever willingly let one of his girls be tainted by that name. But if Sir Robin could get Kirisame's forces to hold a relatively meanial position while he stormed the capital, that was the sweetest punishment that he could ever hope to dole out.

He looked at Sir Robin's Pikachu. "Well, now, what do you think of your master's plan?"

It stared back blankly at him for a moment.

"... pika-pika!" it squeaked.

"I agree," Cloud remarked.

Cloud and Sir Robin worked on battle plans for most of the rest of the day, and before long Cloud was absolutely wiped, wondering how sitting at a desk could somehow be more draining than commanding his forces out on the field.

He came down the steps toward the dining hall, and to his delight, his nose met the smell of meat cooking.

"Smells like the cook and the swamps outdid themselves," he said to his wife.

"Certainly did! I saw him take out a whole section of Tauros from the salt and dunked it in brine for most of the day."

That was music to Cloud's ears, a luxurious dinner after several months of eating tasteless gruel while stray Ice Beams and Shadow Balls flew over his tent. And he got to eat it with his whole family and best friend, to boot.

It wasn't long before everything was being served, and the girl's mom called them down from their room, banging a pot with a spoon.

"Violet! Maribel! Dinner is ready!"

Freight trains wouldn't be invented for more than two and a half millenia, but the sound of the girls bounding down the steps at the sound of food being ready certainly sounded like one. Of course they were stopped and made to wash their hands before sitting down at the table like the proper little ladies they were.

But it was difficult to act proper when the girls were so excited to see their dad after so many long months of him being away. Over dinner, he told them all sorts of stories about his adventures, how he and his men managed to secure enormous victory while leaving out the scary, depressing parts that come with war. Dinner itself was also good, particular since Sir Robin, who had become something of a godfather for the girls and had a daughter of his own back home, was eating with the family. Both his Pikachu and his Scarbunny were on the floor eating scraps, completing the scene of a true family dinner while the servants worked tirelessly in the background.

Eventually, it was time for dessert, and just as promised, a Machoke from the back did the honors of bringing out the most decidant strawberry cake ever made. But Violet was still feeling a bit famished; she never was a big meat-eater, compared to Maribel who could suck down a whole rack of ribs if you let her. And she really, really wanted some of that cake, the whole pink, glistening mass of bread and fruit if she could.

As it came down to the last two slices, she imagined a line going down the middle of the remaining cake where the knife was likely to bear down. Then she imagined that line moving slightly to the left, until it was more ⅓-⅔ rather than truly half.

Dilligently, Machoke cut the cake down that imaginary line, then served it to the girls.

"Um, mother," Maribel said. "I think Violet got more cake than I did."

Their mother looked over at them and said, "it looks like you each got your half to me."

Maribel pouted, "but look at it! Violet has so much cake, and I got - "

"It's. Half," Cloud said. "Don't try to guilt Violet out of her fair share. We've already been over this."

Maribel couldn't help but stew as she was left with a tiny slice compared to Violet's huge slice, which the latter happily enjoyed.

Soon, it was time to retire to bed. As the girls were tucked in, their mother told them fairy tales of knights saving princesses from dragons, before kissing them lightly goodnight and heading down the hall to sleep with her beloved husband.

Once she left, Maribel turned her head over to Violet.

"I really wish you would stop doing that," she said earnestly and annoyed.

Violet stuck her tongue out. "Well, maybe you should get your own special power, then we'll call it even!"

Maribel couldn't help but shake her head as both of them drifted off into dreamland.

On this night, a family was reunited, and they enjoyed great times. The war nearing its hard-fought end, the family had a bright future to look forward to as the girls grew up into their own, and their father could finally rest easy, knowing the worst was all behind him.

A shame that the sentry at Andalou Pass was killed by a rogue force of Novogradian terrorists bent on revenge.

* * *

_*pppft*_

"Mph…"

Reimu woke up to the sound of something landing in her lap. When she looked around, she was at first confused as to why she was outside resting against the lighthouse, before remembering that she and Lillie and Brigette had gone out to look at the stars and…

...huh, she didn't recall ever going back inside after that. Looking around some more, she saw the sun almost fully up, and when she looked at her phone, she saw that it was about 7:30 in the morning, around breakfast, she felt.

She then looked down at the object in her lap, which turned out to be a coconut. She wasn't near a tree, so a bird of some sort was the only thing that could have dropped it there. Looking out at the sky, the only bird she saw was a Swellow. Still hazy from not being fully up, she mused as to how something as lightly built as a Swellow could haul a coconut any distance, or why it would have a coconut in the first place. Perhaps it thought it was a prey Pokemon, but dropped it after realizing its mistake.

A mistake that turned out to be good fortune for her. After finding a large rock, Reimu jammed the coconut onto the pointy end several times before cracking and removing the husk in order to get at the fruit inside. Cracking the fruit yielded the meat as well as milky coconut juice, which she slurped up, using the half of the coconut as a makeshift drinking dish.

As she drank up, she looked over and saw a piece of paper next to her. Picking it up revealed it was a hand-written note from Lillie, which read:

"_ Hey Reimu,_

_I had to go with the professor to Ula'Ula Island this morning to help him with his research. Hau called me and said he was waiting for you at the Hano Grand Resort. He really wants you to come as soon as you can. I wrote you this note because I didn't want to wake up up, we had a long night last night and we fell asleep right here looking at stars. I trust I will see you on Ula'Ula so we can continue our adventure together._

_3 Lillie"_

Hano Grand Resort, huh? She looked on the map where that was, and saw it north of the mountain outside Koni'Koni. After finishing her impromptu breakfast, she summoned a Charizard to fly her around the mountain and toward the resort.

From the sky, it was hard to miss: far from a mere hotel or inn, it was a massive complex, with several large, sprawling buildings with glass facades, a massive swimming pool, long sandy beach with umbrellas propped up all over, and its crowning feature, an expansive 18-hole golf course.

Pulling up just in front of the resort's front archway and sending the Charizard back to base, she whistled. Walking under it and looking at the main resort building, she instantly realized that the place reeked of money. This was no family vacation spot: this was the kind of place where honeymooners hoping to burn through their gift money, or those who were rich and famous, came to forget about life and melt their stresses away separate from the masses with fanny packs and ridiculous novelty leis. Given her increasingly massive battle winnings and the fact that her face was all over the islands by now, Reimu supposed she was welcome, but still felt more than a little intimidated; after all, this place would make Remilia jealous.

Walking alongside the beach toward the main building, there wasn't much activity on the beach yet, but she could still see early-morning jet-skiers out on the glistening waters as well as attendants chucking Pyukumukus back into the sea before the sunbathers flocked there later that day. Because Sandygasts and Palossands had a habit of hiding on beaches such as this one, there were also attendants going through with trained Cacturne who could use Seed Bomb and Dark Pulse to scare them off.

Passing the beach, Reimu walked up to the grand entrance to the main building, from which she could hear a sizable crowd inside. At that point, she was faced with one of the most confusing aspects of this world: a revolving door. The device utterly flummoxed the shrine maiden, who had to stand there for a few moments while a couple other people came in and out of it for her to figure out how it worked. Even then, she got pressed against the glass by the automated door once.

Once she managed to get inside, she saw a huge crowd spread out across a grand main hall, furnished with polished, glowing hardwood floors and main staircase, crystal chandeliers, glass tables and elevators, traditional Alolan art pieces rising all the way up to the ceiling, and grandiose windows providing sweeping views of the island and beach.

Checking the place out, she realized that there was a breakfast buffet going on, with people crowding around food trolleys and hot stations being rolled out of the kitchens. And a few moments after that, she glanced over at the eating area, where Hau had already noticed her and was waving her over.

"Hey!"

Of course Reimu had to walk over. "Hi, Hau! How was your night?"

"Awesome! My team was _stoked _after that battle, and look at this!" He let Hedwig out of her ball, revealing a very tall owl that resembled an archer. "Hedwig evolved after that battle! How awesome is that?!"

After letting Rotom "helpfully" fill her in on Decidueye, Reimu congratulated Hau on evolving his starter into her final form, just as Sasha had last night. Her eyes then turned to the two empty plates stacked up next to Hau, and a third filled with Kalosian toast, bacon and fruit, while Raichu was on the floor nomming away at pancakes.

"So, how'd you end up here?" Reimu asked him.

"Oh, yeah," Hau said, a bit sheepishly. "So, actually, Gramps heard about my grand trial victory last night, and paid for a room here for me overnight as a reward. Which is kinda crazy, because this place has a waiting list a mile long, but they said there was a cancellation or something. Anyway, so we conked out like royalty last night, and then they gave me a buffet ticket 'cause they were doing all-you-can-eat breakfast! So I thought I'd call you over!"

Reimu was feeling a bit flattered. "Oh, uh, thanks, but I don't think I can afford this place…"

"Don't worry about it! Elio already got you a ticket!"

Elio? Wait, that mail boy was here too?

"Hey there!" Reimu looked around, and saw Elio with a plate of food walking toward their table.

"Oh, hi, wasn't expecting to see you here!" Reimu exclaimed.

"I know, right? Small world! Although I suppose with your name everywhere, and you going everywhere, I'd probably see you again at some point!" He sat down and handed her a buffet ticket. "I got the day off so I came to have breakfast here, then Hau found me and told me about you and how you were coming so I thought I'd get another ticket for you."

Reimu accepted the ticket, still a little surprised about how she ran into a person she thought she'd only see once again in such an unexpected place. So after being shown the various food choices, she loaded up mostly on some fruit and bread, then headed back to the table, where Elio was eager to hear some stories from her.

Elio had apparently recalled Reimu talking about someone who was a much better than his sister, and asked her to elaborate. So she told him all about Eirin, the Lunarians in general, and the endless night incident where she first met her, Kaguya and the moon rabbits.

"Ok, ok, wait. She can make a drug for anything?" Elio asked.

"Yup," Reimu bragged. "Love potions, gender-switchers, immortality elixirs, hangover cures, you name it, and if you have enough money she'll make it."

Elio scratched his head. "Heh, maybe she could make like a rare candy-zilla or something. I know some diehard trainers that would want some of those," he joked.

"Well, she has made instant-growth drugs before, so she could probably do something like that. I mean, she managed to hide the Earth from the Moon, and she could probably hit the emperor's head with her longbow from ground level. I'm sure a rare candy-zilla would be well within her talent. And yet I can never get her to make a drug for keeping reporters away or getting more donations." Both of them laughed.

They talked for about another hour or so, with Reimu going back about her history and where she came from while Elio listened intently. Hau, having heard this story before, was playing Just Shapes & Beats on his Switch while Raichu watched. The staff was starting to get the food out of the middle of the floor, and an announcement came on over the intercom.

"Good morning, resort guests! We hope you enjoyed breakfast with us, it's looking like it will be a beautiful day outside! And whether you'll be out hitting the waves, the golf course, exploring the island or just relaxing on the beach, we'd like to help get you revved up! In a few minutes, we'll be starting a twist competition, with this wonderful trophy on the line!" The announcer held up a gold trophy with Hand Grand Resort inscriptions on the side. "And for anyone on their Island Challenge, we have a special participation prize!"

Reimu heard this over their conversation and cocked her head in the direction of the announcer, who was spinning a Flyinium-Z on her finger. "Now, who's 'fly' enough to come up to the stage and go first?"

A few moments later, Selene came out of the crowd, with a grudging Gladion being practically dragged up by her. This surprised even Elio, who was unaware that his sister was also here; she must have come later, he thought. Reimu could see Gladion grumbling something, but she couldn't tell what he was saying over the crowd. Given her previous interaction with the two of them together, though, he was probably objecting to being in front of a crowd or something.

"Now, can you tell us your names?" The announcer held up a microphone to them.

"I'm Selene!" Selene chirped.

"And you, young man?" the announcer asked Gladion.

"...Gladion," he grumbled.

"Ohoho, a little stage fright?" the announcer teased. Gladion, of course, wasn't amused, while the audience chuckled briefly. "I'm sure you two will blow everyone out of the water!" She looked out at the audience again. "Who else wants to come up and challenge this fine couple?"

Elio tugged on Reimu's arm. "I have an idea," he said. "Wanna help me beat my sister?"

"Er…" Reimu hesitated. She didn't know what a twist even was, and she didn't feel comfortable doing it with a guy she barely knew, but he seemed pretty adamant about grabbing that trophy from his sister. And given how famous she had become… it seemed intimidating to risk making a fool of herself in front of this crowd.

"Oh, c'mon, it'll be fun, I promise! Plus, I'm sure you want that Z-Crystal, right?"

"Well, yeah," Reimu said, "but… there must be another way to get it…"

"You can get it right here, you don't even need to win!" he smiled. "Now come on, let's do this!"

"Yeah, Reimu!" Hau parroted. "Do it! I wanna see you bust a move!"

Well, ok, now her hands were tied if Hau was insisting that she do it. So, reluctantly, she walked up with Elio to face Selene and Gladion. As she did, the crowd was first silent, then some muttering between people occured before she was finally met with roaring raves and applause.

On one hand, it seemed daunting. On the other hand, she wished that she and her shrine got even half of the praise and recognition she was getting now. She didn't show it, but she was somehow happy.

"Well, well, well," the announcer smirked, "if it isn't wormhole girl herself, gracing us with her otherworldly presence on this nice day, and she even brought a boy along!" Everyone laughed, while Reimu blushed like a tomato.

"I'll have you know," Elio said grabbing the mike, "that her and I are getting that trophy, and there's nothing she," pointing at Selene, "can do about it!"

Selene snatched the mike from him. "Oh, PLEASE, you dance like a Team Skull grunt!" she taunted.

"You say that like that's a bad thing," Elio said back. "I've seen some pretty sick dance moves from them."

"Yeah, sure," she snarked. "Sick as in they were dancing in their hospital rooms after getting a Dynamic Punch from my Machamp right in their faces!" The crowd ooo'd this comment. All Gladion could do was silently brood about how true this was, perhaps not true enough.

"Ahahaha, sibling trash-talk! Never gets old!" the announcer laughed. "Now, anyone else?"

Cricketots.

"Well then, let's see who the winner of this sibling rivalry is. Will the girl from the wormhole make a difference? Can her battling AND racing skill translate to _dance _? Let's find out!"

Reimu was apprehensive at this point, since her only real experience with dancing was done while under the influence of copious amounts of booze and mushrooms, and while she had frequently gone to watch traditional dances in the village, that probably wasn't going to be helpful here. But, she had to throw on a confident face for the audience, and after taking a deep breath, faced Elio just as Gladion faced Selene.

A few moments after the crowd quieted down, the music kicked up into a catchy ditty, and Elio began swinging his arms and body, while Reimu copied as best she could.

_It was a teenage wedding, and the old folks wished them well_

_You could see that Pierre did truly love the mademoiselle… _

Elio was then twisting his feet left-to-right, while Reimu observed and then copied it. She tried harder to get into the beat of the tune.

_ And now the young monsieur and madame have rung the chapel bell_

_"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell _

_ They furnished off an apartment with a two room Roebuck sale_

_The coolerator was crammed with TV dinners and ginger ale _

Reimu got into the movements and rhythm of the song, and once she felt she had the hang of it, started banging her head back-and-forth, side-to-side slightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Gladion already struggling while Selene shot disapproving looks at him.

_ But when Pierre found work, the little money comin' worked out well_

_"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell _

Now the song was in full swing, and without even thinking about it, she was twisting and banging and rockin', to the knockout cheers of the audience. Elio was as well; he'd been doing this for a couple years, so he knew a thing or two, and he was determined to get that trophy for himself. All the while, Gladion was flubbing and hesitating, forcing Selene to have to physically get him to move his arms up and down. And now even Hau was getting in on it from the sidelines, with Raichu as his "dance partner." And let's admit: it's one thing for a human to twist, but seeing a Raichu do so with its stubby little arms and rat feet was as cute as it was funny and absurd.

The song went on for a couple more minutes, and as everyone wound down the crowd cheered and clapped and whistled. And of course Elio was very sure of his victory, given Gladion's lackluster performance.

"Guess I got the good partner today, huh?" he taunted.

Selene huffed and crossed her arms. "Don't get so sure. They haven't called the winner yet."

"Nah, I'm totally sure," Elio smirked. "We got it, you don't. And that trophy is mine."

"Alright ladies and gents!" the announcer called out. "It's clear! The winner is…" she paused, and then pointed. "...that Raichu!"

What.

"How does a Raichu win a twist dance?" Selene asked, flabbergasted.

"Iunno," Hau said. "Guess they thought he was cute." Meanwhile, Raichu was hefting the trophy with its arms, before giving up and just using Psychic to do it instead.

"I didn't want to be up there anyway," Gladion groaned.

"Oh, don't be like that, Glady," she said grabbing his shoulder. "We just gotta work on your technique, and then we'll be right back here next week! And then I'll have that trophy before by brother does!"

Elio nodded, "you're gonna have to try a little harder that THAT, though. Just be glad that Raichu won and not us, but it's not going to be here next week. And that means I'll have the trophy before you."

"How do you know wormhole girl's still gonna be here next week, though?" she quipped.

"...fair comment," he said rolling his eyes.

Selene and Gladion went off out the side exit toward the beach, while Professor Burnet, who had been watching, came up to greet them.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected," she told them. "But I have to admit: that was really cute the way that Raichu danced to the music." She crouched down to scratch behind its ears, getting a slight shock from doing it causing her to recoil back a bit. "Ah! Ah...haha!" She scratched her head. "And full of energy too… literally!"

"Rai?" Raichu was confused.

"Yeah… I wasn't expecting to be beat by a Pokemon," Elio confided.

"Although," Reimu commented, "given that its Hau's, and we all know how much Hau likes dancing and doing other crazy things," she said sarcastically while Hedwig rotated her head Exorcist-style, "was there any doubt Raichu would win?"

Hau had no comment.

"Also," Reimu asked him playfully, "if Raichu won, does that mean that shiny new Flyinium-Z you got there actually belongs to it? Maybe we should make Raichu a Z-Ring and send it on its own Island Challenge. I think it would make a great trainer, since it's also a Poke-"

"Stop," Hau said flatly, and wishing at this moment that he didn't have to put up with teenage girls and just do the Island Challenge his own way.

"Now now," Burnet smiled, "don't go teasing Hau like that. He's a great trainer, and we all know it." She turned to Reimu. "By the way, the reason I came up here was because I wanted to ask you if you were still interested in seeing the Dimensional Research Lab. It's just down the road from here."

Reimu drew a blank for a moment, before remembering what she was talking about. "Oh, yes, of course!" At last, a chance to learn more about the wormhole that brought her here! Sure, it probably wouldn't mean _that _much, but she hoped she could at least glean some information that she could use to find a way back to Gensokyo, and perhaps more importantly, learn more about who or what the incident's perpetrator could be.

* * *

Interestingly, Elio decided to join the group rather than head off to the beach, claiming that he didn't have much else going on that day, and he had never visited the research lab before and was also curious about Ultra Wormholes, which he enjoyed reading about ever since he swore to seeing one as a child, and he only grew more interested after Reimu entered the picture. Of course Hau was obligated to be with the group, and just a short while later they were in front of the lab, a white building whose roof was crammed with satellite dishes and antennae.

"Well gang, this is it," Burnet said. "This is the Dimensional Research Lab."

Walking toward the structure, Reimu marvelled at the amount of technology that was in one place, but was even more anxious to see what sort of information on the wormholes would lay within. Elio and Hau were similarly impressed by it, eyeing its beautiful glass facade and seeming otherworldly presence.

After clearing security, Burnet showed the three up to the main research floor. This was the first time Reimu had used an elevator, and it seemed strange to her how you step into a box which closes, hums, then opens up a few moments later to present a floor completely different from the one which you entered the elevator car from.

Nevertheless, the room on the other side of the elevator door was one which evoked memories of a control room she toured while in the Lunar Capital, and drew oohs and aahs from everyone: massive computer screens, stretching wall-to-wall, plastered with complicated code comprised of archaic and abstract symbols and 0 and 1 strings. People in white lab coats scuttling about with clipboards, furiously writing down notes. Labs where Gardevoirs were being used in controlled black hole experiments. And the centerpiece of it all: an absolute monstrosity of a machine which resembled a nuclear reactor.

"This is the dimensional field manipulator," Burnet explained. "This is what feeds all those equations you see on the screen over there. We use this to analyze fluctuations in spacetime, from Ultra Wormholes or otherwise, in order to better understand how they operate and, perhaps, replicate the mechanism by which the wormholes are created."

"Question," Reimu said raising her hand. "Did this thing pick up when I was brought here?"

"Good question," Burnet replied. "On that day, there was a massive surge in data which nearly overloaded the mainframes, with the timestamps corresponding to those on the home video footage of the wormhole that appeared on the news." She opened up a nearby terminal and fetched the data from eight days prior when it happened. "We've been analysing the data like crazy since then, no less because it was the first major Ultra Wormhole since the Delta Swarm fourteen years ago."

_Delta Swarm? _, Reimu wondered. Did that mean there were a lot of wormholes that opened up at once? Also, the fact that it happened fourteen years prior seemed… interesting. That was Lillie's age, and the incident involving Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza happened then as well. In Gensokyo, fourteen years ago was when Okina orchestrated an incident which messed with the seasons, and caused certain low-level youkai to become very powerful due to her power over backdoors. Reimu's mother, Katsura Hakurei, dealt with that incident, then died soon after due to circumstances which Yukari never clearly explained to her due to her own lack of knowledge of what went down, other than that it was unrelated to Okina's incident, which Reimu believed, but was still unsatisfied since she wanted to know how her mother died, and the mysterious circumstances and unanswered questions haunted her to this day. Maybe it was all just coincidence, of course: the Scarlet Devil Mansion blowing up and the resurrection of Byakuren Hijiri did, after all, happen on the same day and were not in the least bit connected to the other. But it was so much fun to wonder…

After a few moments, Burnet had up on the monitor a pictogram of the wormhole, alongside some code in a sidebar. "One researcher here worked day and night to come up with some more info on the wormhole. It's complicated to explain, since there are lots of technical details that you probably won't care to know. But basically, we have the wormhole here," she pointed at the screen, "and we can try to figure out where things are being ejected from based on the radiation output. We don't know too much about what lies beyond, but we do know it leads to alternate realms based on evidence. This wormhole was open for about five minutes, and based on the acceleration of energy observed, we could calculate about how far objects could have been flung from in that time. Being the only large physical object to be ejected in this case… no offense, I trust… would you mind telling me how long it was before you were sucked in?"

Reimu thought for a second, before answering, "I don't know… about a minute or so?"

"Okay, let's go with that." Burnet summoned a complex mathematical formula in which she plugged in some numbers, including time spent in the wormhole (four minutes, since the wormhole had closed right behind Reimu), her assumed weight in kilograms, etc. After a minute or so, Burnet came up with a result: "okay, so based on these variables, you actually didn't get flung all that far: 108 light-years, it seems. So if you could find a way to open a wormhole - for instance, finding either Solgaleo or Lunala - it would not be that difficult to locate your home realm."

"That's not my biggest concern right now," Reimu quipped. "I already thought about that, but then I thought about how whatever's opening up these wormholes might have some sort of malicious intent. Now, that might seem a bizarre conclusion to jump to, but again, I have dealt with people who could open up portals before, and I've seen my fair share of weirdness, so I don't think it's much of a stretch."

She took a breath before going to her next point. "At the museum, they talked about something else alongside Solgaleo and Lunala, something named Necrozma. Ever since coming here, I've heard lots of people talk about Solgaleo and Lunala, but almost no one brings up Necrozma."

Burnet hummed. "Weeeeeeeellllll… that's because we know next to nothing about Necrozma. The story of the Alolan Prince is about all we have to go off of. I'm sure you've been told the first part, about how he tamed the two beasts and the four Island Guardians, so I can add on to that. See, before that, while travelling the islands, he came across a fair maiden on a small, deserted islet and rescued her. When he brought her back, she awoke, and he was immediately lovestruck. The two got to know one another, and increasingly fell in love before he asked her to be his bride, which she accepted."

Elio and Hau knew what was next. Reimu didn't, but she saw the twist coming from a mile away. "So, wedding day comes, and just as they are about to officiate the marriage, the two beasts recognized her for who she really was and attacked, causing her to reveal her true form in a flash of light: a hideous mass of black, crystalline structures with huge, sharp claws, whose appearance coincided with a solar eclipse and who immediately began draining light from the land. The prince fought alongside the Guardians and Beasts in order to defeat Necrozma, but just before he could sink his sword into Necrozma's weak spot, it tore open a wormhole which the prince disappeared into. After that, they took the battle to the sky, where they ultimately managed to banish Necrozma. And that's as far as Necrozma's story goes; it has never reappeared, and neither have Solgaleo or Lunala officially. There have been claims here and there of those two being seen by certain people, but no one claims to have ever seen Necrozma even once. We're not even totally sure what it looks like, since few eyewitness accounts from the time exist."

After taking this all in, Reimu added on some more to her questioning. "So, my understanding is that Solgaleo and Lunala are protectors. That might not make them innocent in this case, but if Necrozma is, I'm assuming, evil? Then perhaps it's making a return. That's just my guess anyway. It doesn't sound like either of those two would do something like this on a whim. What do you think?"

Burnet replied, "well, that's interesting that you bring up that point, since there was a prophecy that was made by the Malie oracles shortly after the prince's disappearance. They claimed that Necrozma would indeed return, and that its presence would be matched by the prince leading a legion into battle, including a legendary being of equal power. But of course, it's just a story, a legend. The prince would have long since passed, assuming he wasn't killed in the wormhole or on the other side, and according to legend it took the power of both Solgaleo and Lunala combined with the Tapu to match Necrozma, so it wouldn't be one of them if it were to come true somehow. So it drifted into legend, and for the most part people consider the story to have ended there."

Well, that doesn't answer too much, Reimu thought to herself, but considering that it sounded like Patchouli's workout record was longer than Necrozma's fact sheet, it would have to do for now. Perhaps Burnet, being a scientist with no real experience with magic or religion, probably discarded myth and hearsay in favor of more "logical" explanations, which clashed with Reimu's own experience in a land where those two governed practically everything. Perhaps she would need to take her investigation elsewhere, but where exactly?

Reimu felt reluctant to reveal Stardust's existence to Burnet and the other scientists, since they would likely want to probe and prod it. So she instead asked one last question.

"Thank you. I never thought I'd say this, but would there be another place I could check out?"

Burnet took a deep breath. "I'm not sure. I guess if you're headed to Ula'Ula Island next, you might want to check out the Lake of the Moone. Native Alolans claimed that one could contact Lunala there on full moons. Then if you're headed to Poni Island, the Altar of the Sunne is just beyond one of the trials that you have to do there. Other than that, there might not be much more that you can do except perhaps accept that… you might be stuck here."

"I doubt it," Reimu retorted. "Something's making these wormholes, the one that brought me here is probably not going to be the only one. I know from years of dealing with incidents that there are no isolated incidents, and it's clear something is up. And I'm going to search these islands top to bottom until I get answers."

"You go girl!" Hau shouted.

Reimu blushed. "Er, ah… yeah. Thank you, Hau."

Elio laughed. "Oh, Hau. I remember a long time ago when I was going around doing my Island Challenge, and when I was battling your grandpa you were trying to wrestle my Machamp."

"An I won!" Hau smiled.

_Machamp let you win, _Elio wanted to say, but he decided to just humor the kid.

After the professor's spiel, Reimu decided to wander around a bit, admiring the futuristic tech that was all over the place. At one point, she got to the lab's own library. It was surprisingly cozy, with leather seats and a coffee bar - when you spend hours each day studying ultra-dimensional phenomena, you going to want a lotta "cuppas." Reimu browsed around the shelves. There was a wide range of literature available, from peer-reviewed journals, to a small collection of novels for employees to enjoy on break, to books on legends from all across the world (up to and including the Sinnohvian creation myths) to…

...a book that seemed badly out of place compared to the others. Reimu approached it, and once she saw the Japanese text along the spine, she knew it couldn't have come from anywhere near here. Pulling it from the shelf, she looked at the cover, and realized it wasn't just any book: it was a necronomicon, of the sort that Patchouli kept in her stores, and which could be used to open a communication channel to the dead… something of a useless skill in Gensokyo, anyway. Her suspicions were only reinforced when she flipped it over and saw the telltale purple-inked katakana near the bottom: Patchouli's signature, meaning she wrote the book.

Holding the book closely, Reimu wondered to itself: how did it get here? Did it also come through a wormhole? Or was it swapped here some other way? And why this book in particular? What book did it replace, if it was shelved so neatly?

There were a lot of questions running through her head, but one thing was certain: such an arcane text, left here, might cause unpredictable and dangerous consequences even if the scientists couldn't understand its text, only because a stray Pokemon might find and decipher it and use it to cause trouble. So after making sure no one was looking, she slipped the book into her bag, doubtlessly musing the irony of her stealing a book owned by Patchy as opposed to Marisa, even if it was displaced and she was going to give it back if and when she did return home.

Returning to the professor, she saw her talking to a woman in a sweater with large hair and glasses. Ugh, though Reimu. A sweater, in this weather? She felt a little too warm just thinking about it.

"Oh, Reimu!" Burnet said in surprise. "This is Wicke."

Wicke smiled. "I've heard all about you!"

"Who hasn't?" Reimu said sarcastically rolling her eyes. Everyone else chuckled, including Hau and Elio, who were still there on the side.

"We've been friends for a long time," Wicke told Reimu. "I just came by to visit, but I wasn't expecting you to be here as well!" She looked over to Hau and Elio. "And you even brought Hala's grandson and the mail boy with you!"

Elio stepped forward. "Oh! Ms. Wicke! Yeah, I remember, I see you sometimes when I bring mail out to the Foundation!"

"Foundation?" Reimu asked quizzically.

Wicke turned back to Reimu. "I work at the Aether Foundation. Do you know about us?"

Aether Foundation, Aether Foundation… Reimu heard those words before. "Here and there," she responded.

"We work hard to protect and conserve Pokemon. Our main facility is located out on Aether Isle, southwest of here, but we also work all over the islands." She thought for a minute, then had an idea. "I know! How would you like to come back with me and I can give you a tour of the place?"

Reimu was unsure of this offer. She wanted to get to Ula'Ula Island to continue her Island Challenge and check out the Lake of the Moone, plus the prospect of being taken out to an island in the middle of the ocean seemed… shady, to say the least. She was about to say no, but was reassured and encouraged by both Burnet and Elio that it was safe and totally worth it. This, combined with her confidence in her Pokemon should something go wrong, ultimately led to her agreeing to the trip.

"Sure, I'll go," Reimu finally said, agreeing to the visit.

"Splendid!" Wicke smiled again. And what a cute smile, Reimu thought. It could give Kosuzu a run for her money.

As it turned out, Wicke had come on a floatplane which was docked at the resort's seaport. On its side, it was emblazoned with the Aether Foundation symbol.

Wicke led Reimu and Hau along the dock to where it was parked (Elio said he needed to return home to check on his mother, but was looking forward to the next time that they would meet). As they did, an Aether employee who was flying the plane climbed out to meet them.

"Back already?" he said.

"Well, I did say I needed to run that book the professor was lending to me back to her quickly because she needed it," Wicke responded. "And look who I brought!" she said pointing to Reimu.

The employee's eyes widened. "Reimu? Wow, I can't believe it! I actually get to meet you! Are you coming with us back to Aether Paradise?"

"Seems like it," Reimu said snidely.

"Well then come on board! I just refueled, so we can get going right away!"

And so Wicke, Reimu and Hau boarded the plane. And within minutes, the plane's engines had revved up, and in no time at all, the plane was in the air, bound for Aether Paradise.

The plane was flying high enough that, for the first time, Reimu could see the islands from the air. She looked out the plane window, marvelling at the azure abyss that was the ocean going off seemingly forever into the horizon. She could see Akala, the island she was just on, and its still smoking volcano, as well as Melemele; the tall, sleek buildings of Hau'oli City seemed like tiny stubs from where they were. There was also one other island, too far away for Reimu to be able to make anything out, so she turned to the last island next to Akala, the biggest of the bunch. Interestingly, it had a pair of peaks which were covered in snow, and… so was most of the rest of the island, actually, and it seemed shrouded in clouds. This stuck her as odd: the climate seemed too hot and muggy for anywhere to have snow.

So she pointed it out. "Professor, what's that island over there?"

"That? That's Ula'Ula Island, which is the island you're going to next on your challenge."

"Why is it snowy?" Reimu pressed her again.

"It's been like that for a while. Actually, the snowstorm started a couple days before you arrived. No one's sure why it's happening. Except for the mountains, Ula'Ula should be much too hot for snow, but it's snow-covered now. Not only that, but they've been dealing with outages, so everyone's cold and cranky."

An incident?, Reimu thought. It had to be. Tropical islands don't get snow, and given her own extraordinary circumstances plus her encounters with the two energy beings (which Rotom had since creatively dubbed "Sphere Doomers") and how they were causing the volcanic activity at Wela Volcano Park, it didn't seem too far-fetched for Sphere Doomers to be behind this as well. So she made a mental note to investigate as soon as she arrived there.

But first, she needed to get through Wicke's tour of Aether Paradise, whose white facade soon came into view and became larger as they came in to land.


	28. Beast of Sunne and Beast of Moone

The downtown area of the Human Village was filled with shops of all kinds: food-mongers, fortune-tellers, cafés, toy stores, and various other things. The Hieda House, the largest and wealthiest house in the village, overlooked all these, its vast, imposing facade trumped only by the various youkai-infested mansions and temples outside the village's boundaries, making it a definite local landmark, especially as it was the place where Akyuu recorded history from; even though she had a shortened lifespan, she reincarnated indefinitely and kept her memories from previous lives, making her a deceptively long-lived and noted historian of all things Gensokyo.

Near the house was Suzunaan, a large library which, among other things, housed books that fell in from Outside, books written by various locals, Akyuu's history scrolls, copies of Aya's Bunbunmaru newspaper, and even so-called "youma books" written by Youkai which were all kept in Kosuzu Mootori's personal collection away from the other books. Most books were only loaned out, but some were sold and the library even had its own printing service.

Kosuzu was an interesting character: a sweet, lighthearted girl who nonetheless was conflicted by her stance on the youkai vs. human conflict, even after she was let in on the "secret". This was due to her collection of youma books, itself spurred on by her own special ability: she could, by just touching text, decipher any language in a book, as well as tell real scriptures from fakes. This ability allowed her to collect and study the youma books and learn their secrets, as well as read and translate just about every book kept there, which included scriptures not only in Japanese, Chinese and Korean, but also books and scripts written in English, French, German, Russian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, Swahili and so many others. This made her quite knowledgeable in historical subjects from Outside; her collection even included oddities like scrapped American war plans for Operation Downfall in World War II (she did not, however, know what the replacement plan was, only that there was one since she could tell by reading the text's aura that the plan was never passed onto orders). These days, Kosuzu kept her collection of youma books locked away in a safe given the danger they could pose, but that didn't stop her search for knowledge elsewhere.

Kosuzu had taken an interest in the recent incident involving Reimu getting sucked into the wormhole in the sky; she knew Reimu, since the latter often came by to study history books and tell stories. Unfortunately, she was not allowed to leave the village to find information, not that she did anyway since she knew she probably didn't stand a chance against most of the youkai lurking outside the town limits. So she made up by studying whatever books in the library she could that could help explain the recent events; however, none could furnish the answers she was looking for. It seemed an unsolvable case with no historical basis, and this frustrated her to no end. Not even her good friend Akyuu could adequately explain what was going on, the best she could do being to simply put down a rough chronology of events so far in her record backed up with detailed descriptions of them based on testimony from villagers, who generally were not reliable sources of unbiased information.

The day was like most other summer days at the library. Kosuzu had recently taken a full-time position, which she took in order to try and further her quest for knowledge. When she showed up for work, she saw a bundle dropped off by the side of the building containing the day's newspapers. She opened the bundle, made her way to the newsstand, and arranged the papers to display their headlines, which all read the same:

Ultradimensional Beasts Sighted in Gensokyo: Link to Hakurei Disappearance? Ft. Bunbunmaru-exclusive photos!

Kosuzu was among the villagers who had witnessed the Celesteela flying over the town the previous day, and these photos were mostly different angles of the beast as it overflew the town, eventually ending in a photo of it rooted into the ground of a hot spring. It seemed even in strange incidents, Aya was always on the front lines taking photos, a quality that earned her a spot on the Border Patrol, which also meant she could continue paper deliveries to the village.

After organizing the papers, Kosuzu took a few minutes to put everything into place – books dropped off overnight were reshelved, chairs put back at tables, making sure the printing presses were on and working properly, and removing trash and any knickknacks left around, her only assistance doing this being one other employee while Kosuzu's father was working on paperwork in his office. Finally, at 9:00, she flipped the sign on the door, opening the place for the day.

For the most part, Kosuzu sat at her desk for most of the day as part of her new position, cataloging books and documents. When she wasn't renting out books to people, she was busy looking through the archives trying to see if she could find something to help her figure out this incident, but she was only drawing blanks. If only she had access to that huge library under the Scarlet Devil Mansion, she thought. That place is bound to have what she was looking for, she felt.

The morning went by uneventfully, and after her lunch break she returned to her desk, fully expecting the afternoon until she clocked off to be much the same. However, about fifteen minutes after returning to work, she noticed a hooded figure walk through the doors of the library, carrying a satchel. She approached Kosuzu's desk, prompting her to speak up.

"Hello there," she said to the woman. "Is there anything I can help you with today?"

The woman looked up at her. "Yes, I do need some help. You are Kosuzu Mootori, the girl who can read any text?"

"That would be me!" Kosuzu smiled.

"Then I was wondering if you could help me decipher this tome? I cannot understand what is in it." This sort of request was normal for her, maybe a once or twice per week occurrence.

"I sure can," Kosuzu replied. "Right this way." She led the woman to a study room near the back of the library. There was only one window and it was a little cloudy out, so when they entered she lit an oil lamp to give them some light to see the book with better.

* * *

The woman set the book out in front of them. On the cover were two symbols, resembling a stylized sun and moon, as well as a title in a language Kosuzu did not recognize.

"Strange," she said. "I can't say I've ever seen this language before."

The woman looked up. "That is why I'm here. I felt you were the only one who could help me." She removed her hood, revealing long, purple hair underneath.

"Allow me to introduce myself," she said. "My name is Patchouli Knowledge. I am the librarian of the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

Kosuzu looked in astonishment. THE Patchouli Knowledge, like from the stories Marisa would always tell, here in the village?

"Miss Knowledge!" she exclaimed. "It's a pleasure to meet you! I've heard all about you!"

"Let us save the pleasantries for later," Patchouli said. "I'm here for business."

"Oh, right," Kosuzu said. "For sure. So, what is this book?"

"One of my library devils found it last night while organizing a shelf on the far side of the library. She said she always organizes that section and it had seemed to replace a necronomicon that was normally kept there. She brought it to me and I began to study it. Now, normally this would be easy for me, since I'm knowledgeable in nearly all known writing and cipher systems, but the writing system of this book bears no similarities to any known language, leading me to believe it may be extraterrestrial in origin."

She flipped through the book's pages. "What is interesting, however, is that there are illustrations in here bearing resemblance to the wormhole that appeared on the day of Reimu's disappearance, leading me to suspect that it may have some information on them. Since you can decipher any text, I chose to travel here to elicit your help in uncovering any secrets it may have."

Kosuzu thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not so sure about if I can read alien languages, but I can try." She touched the cover of the book to try and read its title. This took her a few moments, and the whole time she thought about who might have written it.

"So, is it extraterrestrial?" Patchouli asked her.

"No, it was definitely written by humans," Kosuzu commented, "but not necessarily humans in our reality."

"Interesting," Patchy noted.

After some time, Kosuzu absorbed the language, which allowed her to read the title fluently. "It seems to read 'The Chronicle of Sunne and Moone.'"

She flipped to a random page and began reading a passage from it:

"_ And so the Beast who Steals the Light, Necrozma, shadowed the land, and cast the prince into the void. The Guardians of Alola, joined with the Beast who Devours the Sunne, Solgaleo, and the Beast who Calls the Moone, Lunala, rose to the sky, and through their combined power banished Necrozma, showering Alola in light."_

Kosuzu looked at the text for a moment, confused. "What do you suppose this means?" she asked.

Patchouli corrected her glasses before commenting "it tells of a legend, that much is obvious. As for which one, that I'm not sure. Almost every culture has their own story regarding the sun and moon, but I've never come across a legend quite like this one, and I've never heard of anywhere called 'Alola,' even in antiquity."

Kosuzu slumped in her chair. "If only there was a way to make heads or tails of what this thing is saying without speculating."

"There is," Patchy said. She reached into her bag and pulled out what looked like a polished amethyst. "This is a small trinket I created long ago to aid in my research. When placed upon text, it creates a projection that portrays what the text is telling. I mostly use it for visualizing ritual instructions when I am conducting my studies, but it can be used to tell stories just as well." She placed it upon the pages of the book. "However, it only recognizes certain languages, and as you can see, there is no reaction at all with the alien text here."

Kosuzu sat back up. "I can fix that." She touched the page again, this time concentrating even harder. As she did, the mysterious script on the pages rearranged itself into readable Japanese characters.

Patchouli was amazed. "I only guessed that you could do that, but now that I see it, I am most impressed."

"Nothing stops the biggest book nerd in Gensokyo," Kosuzu boasted, flipping her glasses onto her nose.

"...yes, of course," Patchy said in an aside.

As the text was translated, the stone began to glow, and a faint projection appeared in the air above the musty tome. A scene began to draw, showing a rocky cliff overlooking the sea. Dark clouds blanketed the sky, but through the haze a solar eclipse was clearly visible.

"This must be what the text meant by the land being shadowed," Kosuzu commented.

From the side, what looked to them like a large, white lion came onto the scene. It let out a mighty roar, then dashed off the cliff as a lighted road materialized under its feet, allowing it to run straight up into the sky. A subtitle gave its identity as "Solgaleo."

"And that must be the 'Beast who Devours the Sunne," Patchouli noted. "It's interesting, as the main symbol of alchemy is a lion eating the sun."

The scene continued to show Solgaleo running up the lighted road, until eventually it reached a thunderstorm in the clouds. The scene then panned in, revealing the thunderstorm to actually be a fierce battle between four figures and a large crystalline mass. The yellow figure, resembling a cock, was named Tapu Koko; the pink figure, resembling a butterfly, Tapu Lele; the red figure, resembling a bull, Tapu Bulu; and the purple figure, resembling a marlin or siren, Tapu Fini. The mass was identified as Necrozma.

It was obvious to both Patchouli and Kosuzu that the four guardians must have been these figures, and that Necrozma was a threat to the land as they were fighting it. It seemed a losing battle for the guardians, as the scene showed Necrozma absorbing Tapu Koko's electrical attacks and blasting them back, before firing lights at them which briefly stunned them long enough for it to slash them with its enormous, sharp claws.

Patchouli adjusted her seat, watching the scene unfold in front of them. Distant cries could be heard, one of which was Solgaleo's, and the other was new. The guardians regrouped in a rough square, with Solgaleo arriving in the center of it, and another figure, which resembled a large, crescent-shaped bat, named Lunala, appearing above it. All of them cried out at once, attempted to intimidate Necrozma.

The scene continued, showing Necrozma begin to absorb light, materializing a light ball in front of it. Tapu Bulu, sensing danger, used its magic to conjure up a tree, which it held in order to intercept the attack that was coming. Soon enough, Necrozma launched the fully-charged ball at the group, causing them to scatter, Solgaleo to the left, Lunala to the right. Bulu, however, defiantly stood its ground, tossing the mighty tree right at the ball. As soon as the two touched, a massive explosion enveloped and completely vaporized the tree, creating a blinding column of light and forcing the Land Spirit Pokémon to look away as the pillar of light struck the ground and pierced the heavens.

"Hold it," Patchouli said. She touched the page, causing the scene to pause. "I need to go back a bit."

Kosuzu looked on as Patchy rewound the scene until it replayed Necrozma charging up and firing the ball of light, then pausing just as it was launched.

"What's so special about this part?" Kosuzu asked.

"This attack..." Patchy pondered. "I've seen this attack before."

"Come again?" Kosuzu asked, her ears perked up in curiosity.

"I'm sure you're aware of Sunshine, Marisa and Alice's daughter?" Patchy asked.

Kosuzu thought for a moment, then said "oh yeah, that doll kid? Yeah, I know her. She comes in here sometimes with them. She's curious about everything! She wants to read every book in here!"

Patchouli continued. "Recently, she... developed some abilities, which I was tasked with evaluating. One of those abilities was an attack that was virtually identical to the one Necrozma uses in this scene."

"Hmm?" Kosuzu was curious.

"The attack's charge-up was the same, the launch and light-shadow it left behind was the same, the pillar of light was the same... the attack was far more powerful than almost anything I have witnessed. I informed Alice and Marisa that it was on par with the power wielded by higher gods."

Kosuzu was surprised. "You really think so?"

"I've studied magic for over a millennia," Patchouli stated, "this is not simple magic. This is divine power. What we are witnessing here is a battle among deities."

She continued to let the scene play out. After the attack subsided, two cries, a mighty roar and a frightful shriek, could be heard from either side of Necrozma. The four Tapu looked around, before Solgaleo and Lunala appeared before them. From their bodies, some form of power flowed into the Tapu, enveloping them with a yellow-orange aura which supplied them untold amounts of power. Then, Bulu, Lele and Fini formed a triangular shape together, and around them the aura grew into an enormous, humanoid form with powerful arms and feet, but missing a head. Tapu Koko then assumed the head position, closing its shell in such a way as to resemble a chicken's head. The combined being then veered over Necrozma, much larger and more imposing than the crystalline mass in front of it.

Solgaleo then roared again, creating a ripple in space-time – identical to the one seen in the sky above Gensokyo the day of Reimu's disappearance. It then rushed forward toward it, Lunala flying close behind, before crashing into it and disappearing into the resulting wormhole, with Lunala flying into it just moments later.

Patchouli stopped the scene and looked up at Kosuzu. "This is it," she said sharply. "This has to be it."

"What? The lion caused the incident?" Kosuzu asked.

"Perhaps not necessarily," Patchouli told her, "but we now have vital context for this incident. These beings can open up these wormholes. Any of these three could be the incident's perpetrator."

Kosuzu leaned forward. "Well, I certainly hope it isn't Necrozma. That thing looks scary."

"I don't think it matters at this point which of these three caused it," Patchouli said, "all that's important is that our perpetrator now has a face, even if we do not know which of these three faces it has." She let the rest of the scene play out: after the beasts escaped via the wormhole, Tapu Koko, bound to the energy being, reeled back and then unleashed a mighty punch, which was forceful enough to send Necrozma straight through the wormhole, which closed right behind it. Afterward, the darkness dissipated and the eclipse ended, and the four Tapu scattered back down to their respective islands.

The two looked at each other for several moments, before Kosuzu spoke. "So… what happens now?"

"Now?" Patchouli answered. "I need to study this text more now that you've translated it for me. Then, I need to present this to the sages; they need to know every single bit if information that is in here. This is a major breakthrough for the investigation."

Patchouli then got up from her seat, placing the book back into her satchel. "Thank you for all your help," she said. "I will return to my library at once, so that you may get back to your job."

"My pleasure," Kosuzu smiled.

Before Patchouli left, she reached into her bag, and pulled out a large, gold nugget.

"This is a piece of gold I grew during some alchemy experiments. You won't find more pure gold anywhere else. This is your payment, for helping me discover possibly this mystery's biggest breakthrough so far."

Kosuzu took the gold nugget from Patchouli's hand, then marvelled it for a second. "This is… wow, I can't believe it! Imagine all the money I could get from it, thank you!"

Patchy gave the girl a soft smile, before donning her hood once more, and leaving Suzuunan and the village.

* * *

Arriving at the gate of the mansion, Patchouli took a moment to catch her breath, since the trip to the village had taken a lot of effort for her ailing body.

"Miss Knowledge," Meiling said coming around a corner. "Do you need help?"

"Haff… no, I'm alright," Patchy said, wheezing. Meiling wasn't convinced, though, so she helped the librarian up to the front door, then down the stairs to the basement library's front doors, after which she returned up to resume her duty as the mansion's gatekeeper. However, she bumped into Sakuya on the way up.

"What are you doing away from the gate?" Sakuya asked, somewhat sternly.

"What? Oh, Miss Knowledge just returned, so I was helping her back down to her library," Meiling responded. "I'm on my way back out."

_Figures _, Sakuya thought. Patchouli could probably be run over by a squirrel if she didn't have powerful magic at her disposal, so it didn't surprise the maid that she needed to be helped back down by Meiling. Which was another nice quality of Meiling's, her willingness to look out for and help others even if she had to step away from her job.

"I'm assuming the counseling helped?" Sakuya asked; she hadn't seen Meiling since her grocery run turned strange encounter, since she hadn't left the mansion since then.

"I think so, definitely," Meiling said. "I'm not quite as on-edge as I was, although I'm still not taking any naps."

"I don't think anyone in this mansion is sleeping anyway," Sakuya confided. "Glad to hear you're doing better."

"Absolutely," Meiling smiled. "In fact…" she put her fists together. "I haven't had a fight in a while. Would you like to help me refresh, in case the monster shows up?"

This was strage, Sakuya thought. Meiling wasn't usually this willing to start a spell card duel, given her generally under-par performance in them, but hey, if she wanted it, there wasn't much that needed doing around the mansion at the moment, and after that encounter the other day, she was still on her toes."

"Alright," Sakuya said before brandishing some knives. "But I hope you're ready to lose," she smirked menacingly.

They decided to move the action outside the mansion's gates, and faced each other in midair.

"Standard rules?" Sakuya asked.

"Let's," Meiling answered. And in a flash, the sky erupted in laser bullets, with Sakuya's knives meeting Meiling's colorful array of projectiles.

Meiling was the first to use a spell card. "Colorful Sign 'Dazzling Colorful Typhoon!'" A wave of rainbow bullets flew toward Sakuya. _Ah, big guns already? _she thought. No matter, she just weaved in and out of the predictable pattern and struck her first hit out of three needed to win.

Meiling, of course, wasn't willing to back down just yet, even if she was super rusty. So she tried another attack. "Star Chi 'Earth-Moving Star Pulse Shot!'" she called, as shar shaped bullets flew out in front of her while she charged and unleashed a hadouken that homed in on Sakuya. But homing abilities didn't matter if Sakuya could activate her time manipulation powers to evade it and close the distance, allowing her to land the second shot, leaving her 3-1 in a seemingly one-sided fight.

Sakuya smiled. "I think you're just a tad outmatched," she boasted while balancing three knives on her fingers. "Want to try one last trick?"

Meiling got back up and shot a determined look. "Sure. I didn't want to use it just yet, but I have a new attack. It's impossible to avoid, and hits super-hard," she claimed.

"Go ahead and try it," Sakuya taunted.

"Alright," Meiling replied before creating a symbol in front of her, resembling the Latin Delta. "Delta Sign 'Dragon Ascent!'" And with that, she shot up into the air, disappearing into a twinkle.

Sakuya looked up and was confused. No bullets? Then, blue and emerald lines shot down from where Meiling disappeared, trapping Sakuya while a single light-blue shockwave with a black figure in it barreled down toward her. No fear, Sakuya thought. She could just halt time and sidestep it. So she did.

...and was hit with all the force of a hypersonic missile, slamming her into the ground with enough force to leave a 3-foot crater. The attack completely ignored her ability to stop time.

Sakuya lie there, in pain, before wrenching herself back up, dusting herself off and coughing, all the while a proud Meiling stood in front of her grinning.

"What the hell!" Sakuya yelled. "How did it… why did it-"

"It ignores abilities," Meiling boasted. "The only way to dodge it is to get outta Dodge."

"That's not fair!" Sakuya objected. She tried to throw a knife, but fell over instead, which meant Meiling won the fight. "You can't have a one-hit kill attack that ignores abilities!"

"Oh, I think I can," Meiling said triumphantly. "Other people have one-hit kill attacks."

Sakuya managed to stand up. "Anyway, how did you come up with that attack? It doesn't fit the theme of your other attacks that well."

"I figured it out," Meiling claimed. "Going to Eirin's made me really confident, so I came up with a new attack. I just needed a good excuse to test it. Now that I know it works perfectly, I'm ready to take on anything!"

Sakuya was stunned. "You…"

"Mmm-hmm?"

"... did a good job," she said hugging Meiling. "I'm proud of you." Meiling returned the hug, then Sakuya backed away. "You might just be a gatekeeper, but if being confident makes you that strong, then perhaps you can take on the perpetrator yourself."

"Heh… maybe," Meiling commented.

Sakuya dusted herself off some more, before showing herself inside the mansion and shooting her second round of medicine in two days. Meanwhile, Meiling looked up at the sky.

She clenched her fist, and shot a determined look at a cloud.

_Seems the time for revenge has come, _she thought briefly, before going back to watering flowers.


	29. Symbiont

There were tall, porcelain Swanna fountains lining the entrance just up the steps from the dock. There were hedges, carefully trimmed into the shape of long Serperiors surrounding the plaza. Employees, scientists and tourists alike crisscrossed the plaza, and there were Pokemon everywhere, both with their trainers and being handled by the Aether employees.

But mostly, there was white. Lots and lots of white. So much white, in fact, that Reimu found herself squinting even with sunglasses on.

"Ach, it's too bright," she complained. "Do you need the place to be so white?"

Wicke chuckled to herself. "Believe me, I keep telling the president the same thing, that guests think its too bright. But she thinks it's beautiful, and that it was the way her father had it, so I don't think it's going to change any time soon, I'm afraid."

"Ehhhh," Reimu groaned as she and Hau were led by Wicke around the facility's exterior. Despite her objections to the brightness of the place, the facility was diverse and well put together.

Wicke explained some of Aether Paradise's history to the two. Aether Paradise, she explained, was first built as a colonial fort on a shallow shoal, but was abandoned for a long time before it was purchased by Claudius Aether, a multi-billionaire pan-disciplinary scientist and business owner who converted the place into the ultimate Pokemon conservation and rescue habitat. The shoal the fort was built on was, in fact, a premier habitat for several endangered marine species such as Corsola, which influenced his decision to build a habitat in such a strange and remote place. The finished facility, which came complete with both land and sea habitats, intake, care and release for injured Pokemon, and a grand mansion overlooking it all was dubbed "Aether Paradise." Since then, the facility became a major tourist attraction in Alola, even being included on several tours and recommended as a must-hit on travel sites. It even had scheduled ferry service to all the other islands except Poni.

Their tour took them through the mansion's grand gardens, which included a spacious, verdant field of grass, a hedge maze, and a marble Dewgong fountain in front of the mansion's front steps. They could not actually enter the mansion, since it was an active residence. Instead, Wicke simply described what was inside, but even that was still enough to impress Reimu, since it included four bedrooms, four baths, a ballroom, a fully-staffed kitchen and a grand dining room. It couldn't hold a candle to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but it was still nothing to sneeze at, particularly since it was just one part of a very large place in the middle of the ocean.

"Now that I have showed you the mansion and gardens, I'll take you up to the conservation habitat," Wicke told the two. She led them back toward the main building, onto an elevator, and up into the glass-domed terrarium.

As they arrived up to the floor, Reimu looked around, and whistled. The glass ceiling above was so clear, it was almost as if it weren't there. But even more striking than that was what amounted to a full zoo, something Sanae had described to her once. Animals confined to cages for people to gawk at? The concept seemed strange and cruel. But here she was, looking out at pens crisscrossed with walkways and bridges, housing Pokemon in miniature habitats designed to mimic where they could be found wild: for example, Gumshoos in tall grass, or Alolan Geodude in areas surrounded by magnetic rock.

"This is our conservation garden," Wicke explained. "This is where we house injured or abused Pokemon until they are well enough to be given to a new trainer or released back into the wild." She peeked over her glasses. "Now, before you get any ideas, this facility has a special signal broadcast through it that jams empty Poke Balls, so you can't catch any Pokemon that you see here. But you are free to observe them." She looked over to the far side of the garden. "The president is currently over there. I'm sure she would love to speak with you, Reimu." With that, Wicke turned to walk over to where Lusamine was.

Hau wandered off to look at all the different Pokemon that were there. Reimu, on the other hand, was unsure what to think. She really wasn't sure why she was here; she would much rather head off to find more clues on how to get back home, or even just press on with her Island Challenge. Still, she knew it would be rude to just leave here after being invited, so she decided to hang around and check out the conservation area herself.

Of course, the place was crawling with tourists, many with their Pokemon out, so it was quite crowded and difficult to move around. So she diverted to less crowded walkways near the edges, while still making her way to the president that Wicke mentioned.

Rotom popped out of her bag. "Bzzrt! There's lotz of Pokemon here that I need to record! Don't mind if I do?"

"...sure," Reimu answered.

"Thankz, Roto-R!" it chirped. Rotom had come up with all sorts of wacky nicknames for her. She had been told that Rotom often do this, but that didn't make it less annoying given her prior experiences with annoying freeloaders. So Rotom hovered behind her, analyzing every other Pokemon that she passed and recording entries. Reimu herself checked out some of the Pokemon in their habitats. Most of them were native to Alola, but some were non-native Pokemon brought in by the authorities, all confiscated from abusers and criminals. It was a stark reminder that even with this world's squeaky-clean appearance, there was still a dark underbelly of seediness and crime. At the same time, though, seeing all these Aether employees gently taking care of them, feeding them, singing to them and checking for health reminded her that even with that underbelly, there were still plenty of good people doing good things. That said, it did seem odd seeing creatures like Muk, which was a literal pile of sludge, receiving the same level of TLC that "cute" critters like Pichu and Fennekin all got. As for Pokemon like Gardevoir or Machamp getting that treatment… she shrugged and shook her head before moving on.

And she _still _could not get over that Skitty and Wailord.

As she was walking along, one Aether employee caring for a Miltank noticed her and waved her down.

"Oy!" she called out. "You're Reimu, aren't you?"

"Uh, yeah?" Reimu said.

The Aether employee climbed out of the pen and got out to meet her face-to-face. "Nice to meet you! I'm Matilda. Obviously, I work here, and I take care of injured Pokemon."

"Mil-mil!" Miltank cried.

Reimu bowed and then gave the Alolan greeting. "Well, Alola, I guess!" she said sheepishly. She then knelt over to pat the Miltank on the head.

"I see Miltank likes you," Matilda commented.

"I get that a lot," Reimu said. "They all seem to like me."

"That must mean you're a good person at heart," Matilda smiled. "Pokemon can always tell when a person is good. Your Pokemon must be fortunate to be trained by you."

Reimu looked aside. "Well, I mean Sasha gave me noogies last night, and I have this Eevee-"

In a flash, Sanae popped out on top of Reimu's cap.

"Vee-vee?"

Reimu blushed. "Well, I suppose I don't have to say much more, do I?"

Matilda had stars in her eyes. "She's soooooo cute! Can I pet her?!"

"Sure, go ahead," Reimu told her. So Matilda scratched Sanae behind the ears, much to her delight.

"Careful, she might tear your hand off," Reimu snarked. "She's pretty feisty." But that didn't stop Matilda from fluffing up Sanae's cheeks and tail.

"Sorry," Matilda said backing away. "I just love Eevees. I used to have the sweetest one in the world, but then he evolved into an edgy Umbreon. Still love him, though."

"I've heard Eevee evolve into many things," Reimu said.

"They sure do," Matilda replied, "all colors of the rainbow. And what they evolve into depends on how you care for them. You can give them special stones to evolve them into Flareon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Leafeon or Glaceon. Or, if you love them enough, they evolve into Espeon or Umbreon. And if you _really _love them, they evolve into Sylveon."

"Seems like a lot," Reimu remarked. "Any other?"

"There's a few oddball ones that they recently found out about," Matilda replied, "and I don't agree with all of them. Someone figured out that trading one with a Metal Coat causes them to evolve into a soulless robot, Metallion. Put them under heat and pressure, and the poor thing evolves into Litheon, which is like a rock-shaped Eevee covered in diamonds. Others are a little better, though: they can also evolve into a flying Aerilion, although no one really knows what causes that. It could also evolve into a Vespion, although again no one really knows what causes that and they look really creepy, in my opinion."

Reimu was intrigued. "That's interesting. Are there any here that I can see?"

Matilda shook her head. "Sadly, not right now. We don't have any, although I guess that's a good thing. All the Pokemon here were either found or brought in, all sick or hurt. Some are wild Pokemon that got away from predators by the skin of their teeth, and some are endangered so we breed them here. But many were abused by their trainers, and so were taken away and given to us." She looked over to the Miltank, who turned around; you could clearly see bruises and scars from whipping.

Seeing that broke Reimu's heart.

"...I see," Reimu said in partial disbelief, her jaw agape.

"I started working here after I brought in a Bounsweet left in a mailbox. Poor thing was near death, but I worked hard to give her strength back and watch her grow. After she eventually grew into a Tsareena, a trainer came by and adopted her. Last I heard, that trainer beat Iris in Unova with her." She paused for a moment. "So yeah, she went from almost dying too young to becoming a Hall of Famer, all because of our hard work."

All of a sudden, Miltank came up to Reimu with a bottle of milk, and offered it to her.

"Oh?" Matilda remarked. "I guess Miltank wants to give you something!"

After insisting that Reimu take it, Reimu relented and took the bottle of milk from her, and put it in her bag.

"Miltank are always producing milk, so you have to keep bottles around to hold it all. But that's okay, because it's so good and sells very well." Reimu could tell, because it seemed she couldn't pass a Miltank without having to accept a bottle from them, not that Sasha minded it at all since he absolutely loved the stuff.

"Well, keep up the good work, I suppose," Reimu smiled.

"Thanks," Matilda said back. And with that, Reimu waved and continued to make her way to the president.

* * *

She found the president at the far side of the area, talking to a man with white hair and lime green glasses. As she stepped up, Sanae ran up to the president's legs and began sniffing them.

"Ah!" She turned around, startled by the Eevee at her feet. It was then that she also noticed Reimu, who rushed over to pick Sanae up.

"I'm so sorry, ma'am!" she exclaimed. "She's a bit of a handful." She picked up Sanae, who just melded into her arms.

The president laughed. "She's certainly full of energy." She then fixed her posture. "I assume you must be Reimu?"

"That would be me," Reimu replied.

The president smiled. "Nice to meet you. My name is Lusamine Aether, and I'm the president of the Aether Foundation."

_You're the president? _Reimu thought. She had a very outlandish appearance, with the first thing catching Reimu's attention was her large, long platinum hair conditioned into a dome, almost reaching the floor. But she was also taken by her breathtaking beauty, her piercing emerald eyes, and the large and sharp cut gem brooch on her chest.

"I… you seem young for being the president," Reimu blurted out without thinking.

Lusamine chuckled. "Ohoho, I get that a lot. I'm actually 43!"

Reimu face-faulted. _43?! _She looked really good for 43, to the point where she could mistake her for a non-aging youkai like Yukari.

Getting back up, Reimu apologized. "I'm sorry, I'm not acting properly, am I?"

"Oh no, you're fine," Lusamine smiled. "If I fell through a wormhole, I'd probably be a bit mixed-up too."

The man behind Lusamine stepped up. "Honor to meet you," he said, introducing himself. "I am Faba. I'm the branch chief here at the Foundation."

"Nice glasses," Reimu snarked. Faba didn't respond to that.

It was then that Wicke and Hau walked up to them, Hau having finished his tour of the conservation floor. "Ah," Wicke remarked, "I see our guest has met the president herself."

"I suppose I should be honored to meet her, not the other way around," Lusamine commented. "It's not every day you see someone fall out of an Ultra Wormhole. And I trust you take very good care of your Pokemon?"

Reimu glanced at her. "Well, you saw Sanae, right? And I guess everyone else on my team thinks I'm all that and a bag of chips, especially Sasha." Speaking of Sasha, she let him out of his ball, and he announced his presence by beating his chest, roaring, and then chewing the scenery.

"Impressive," Lusamine remarked. "You only got your starter a little over a week ago and he's already a mighty Incineroar."

"Well, I do expect a lot from them," Reimu told her. "Where I'm from, I'm an accomplished battler myself, and have to put down a lot of incidents. But I guess they expect a lot from me too, and I give them the care and attention they need."

"They know you're a strong and responsible trainer," Lusamine said praising her. "I wish I could say the same of all trainers." She paced around a bit. "When I was a little girl, my father let me wander this conservation floor, and I saw all the examples of Pokemon being brutalized by uncaring and callous people. You may not know them, but there are many evil organizations that abuse Pokemon for profit, such as Team Rocket and… Cipher," she said hesitantly. "Some of the Pokemon you see here used to be Shadow Pokemon, which were all twisted by cruel scientists into mindless killing machines, but the efforts of a few good people shut them down and freed them all. Now, however, we at the Foundation focus on that gang, Team Skull. I'm sure you know them?"

"Team Skull?" Reimu asked. "I thought all they did was dance badly and makes fools of themselves."

"Well, their dancing does suck," Faba snidely confided.

Lusamine shook her head. "You must not have ever run into them harassing Pokemon."

"I heard they tried to dance on the Mantines, does that count?" Reimu asked.

_This isn't getting us anywhere, _Lusamine thought. "I suppose," Lusamine conceded. "But they also routinely harass Slowpokes for their tails. Slowpoke tails are a delicacy, and they try to chop them off and sell them for drug money. They might grow back, but it's still inhumane, won't you agree?"

_I guess, _Reimu thought, even though poaching Slowpoke tails was a misdemeanor compared to trying to invert the barrier (Seija) or levelling the shrine (Tenshi).

"I guess we can't be having that," Reimu replied.

"I'm glad you agree," Lusamine said. "That's why we helped set up a Slowpoke reserve next to the Ula'Ula beach spot, and that's why we help spot their activities across the islands to make sure they're not bothering any Pokemon."

"Slow?"

Everyone turned around to face Faba, who had, on cue, sent out his Slowpoke. The Dopey Pokemon just stared blankly forward, probably unaware of where it was or even who its trainer was.

"She's a beaut, isn't she?" Faba said petting Slowpoke. "I saved her from some Team Skull grunts the other day. Absolutely beautiful."

Reimu wasn't sure she would describe it as "beautiful" given its wide eyes, empty smile, and if it weren't breathing she could swear it wasn't even moving. She crouched down to its level and looked it in the eyes, although she was unsure what she was trying to accomplish by doing so, since it was like she was staring into an abyss, and the abyss was staring back… and it was stupid as hell, too. It took a few moments for Slowpoke to register that Reimu was even there, at which point she held out a Poke Bean for it to eat. Except it just started at the bean, absolutely bewildered as to what this sweet-smelling thing in front of it was or what it was supposed to do with it. It took a minute for it to register the bean as food, after which it gently took it from Reimu's hand and begun to chew on it. How this thing managed to evolve and survive was a mystery to Reimu, since with an intellect with that it was lucky a Sharpedo or something didn't try to -

_*flicker*_

Suddenly, there was a flicker in reality, and Reimu jolted up from the Slowpoke.

"What the heck was that?!" Hau exclaimed while tense. Everyone looked around, their arms tensed up and nervous. Sasha's first instinct was to get in front of his trainer and try to protect her with his arm while doing his best to look intimidating.

The flicker came again, this one longer than the first. Everything fell deathly silent, as apprehension gripped everyone. Then, the silence was slowly broken as an electronic hum began to fill the air.

A hum just like the one that preceded the wormhole above Gensokyo ripping itself open, Reimu realized.

And just like that, an Ultra Wormhole blew itself open, causing everyone to stagger back before looking at it with absolute dread. Employees stopped what they were doing and stared at it with a mixture of confusion and horror, while Reimu stayed absolutely silent.

And it just floated in the air for many moments, seemingly doing nothing while Reimu, Hau and everyone else stood there staring it down. Only after moments had passed did someone say something.

"Look!" Hau said pointing at the wormhole. "Something's coming out!" At first, Reimu didn't see anything, but she soon made out an outline that was refracting the light inside the wormhole. As it emerged, it revealed itself as a glassy creature resembling a jellyfish - just like the one Reimu had seen while travelling through the wormhole.

The creature emerged from the wormhole, and everyone was frozen in place. No one dared to speak, afraid that they might agitate it. Reimu, the closest person to it, stepped back slightly, wide-eyed. _What was this thing? _she wondered. Up to this point, she was convinced that what she saw in the wormhole was some sort of hallucination or dream, given the dreamlike feel of the experience, but being faced with the creature again made it clear: this was real.

The creature began to drift around slightly, seemingly without caring about anyone or anything around it, flickering occasionally as well. That was when it vocalized for the first time.

"Venonihl…" It made the same haunting cry it made in the wormhole. A sense of dread built up in Reimu's stomach. Then, it flickered and suddenly drifted forward quickly, toward Reimu.

* * *

_"Mama…"_

_"Your mother can't take care of you anymore, little Reimu."_

_"Mama… (sniffle)"_

_"I will take care of you as best I can."_

_"Master?"_

_"Yes, Ran?"_

_"I haven't been able to locate the figure that mortally injured Katsura."_

_"That's not important right now. We need to look after this little one, and raise her into a strong shrine maiden."_

_"But she is too young. And can we really take care of a human child?"_

_"She is the only Hakurei Shrine Maiden now. We must look after her as best we can."_

_"Mama…"_

"GAH!" Reimu gasped. She looked up, and saw the creature in the air above them. She wasn't too sure what had just happened… this situation was getting weird.

For some reason, she felt compelled to reach up to it… but her arm felt stiff, as if it were moving in slow motion, and she barely had feeling in it. Running forward had the same effect. She wanted to speak, but found herself unable to. She could also sense Sasha was not there, and upon looking around, saw numerous shadow figures standing around her, and she became very afraid. What was going on? She didn't understand.

She saw all the figures converge right in front of her, before forming into a solid black mass of prisms with huge, black claws… Necrozma. When it called out, it sounded like a mangled banshee, a haunting cry that even turned the sky blood-red. Necrozma reached up, grabbed the strange creature, and shattered it into glass shards between its claws. It then cried out again, before winding up and punching Reimu right into the wide open wormhole behind her, all while Reimu screamed in slow-motion.

* * *

"Reimu… REIMU!" Hau shook Reimu awake.

"...mmmh?" Reimu opened her eyes. She hadn't realized she had collapsed onto the floor and passed out. Aching, she got up, rubbed the back of her head, and fixed herself up.

"What happened?" Reimu asked.

"It seems that that creature somehow knocked you out when it lunged at you," Lusamine said. "Your Incineroar then instantly grabbed it and pummeled it, and flung it back through the wormhole, after which it closed."

Reimu looked behind her, and indeed, the wormhole was gone.

"How long was I out?" she asked.

"Just a few minutes," Hau said, "but man, they felt like forever! You alright?!"

Reimu shook her head, then shook her arms. A chill ran up her spine, but after that, she said, "yeah, I'm fine. I just need a cup of tea."

"Certainly," Wicke bowed. "We have our own tea bar down on the first floor." So she led the two downstairs.

Lusamine looked at where the wormhole had been, before Faba came up to her.

"So, what do you think?" he asked.

It took Lusamine a while to respond. "It's possible."

"What's possible?" Faba asked peeking over his glasses.

"I know they're out there. They just have to be. My lost daughter, my beloved husband. And those creatures, those Nihilego… it was just as the research indicated. My proof that they're out there, if these creatures also come from beyond the wormhole." She clenched her fist. "I WILL bring my family back together, and nothing is going to stop me."

"That Reimu girl… she's shielding Lillie."

"Don't tell me what I already know," Lusamine hissed, as Faba recoiled. "She ran off with Cosmog without even thinking what all that research means for our family. And Gladion… running off with the Type: Null that we designed to defend against the Ultra Beasts, the tools we need to find them again. How could they be so callous? Especially Gladion, he saw it happen, even if he was just a child."

"But the visitor scan showed Reimu had a Cosmog as well. Why didn't we seize it?" Faba asked.

"Forget it," Lusamine quipped. "Reimu might be new to Pokemon battling, but it's clear she has years of fighting experience and blood on her fists. And she's empowering Lillie, too; we wouldn't be able to tear Cosmogs off either of them by force."

"So, what should we do?"

Lusamine looked down, then up at Faba again. "We have to seperate Cosmog from them some other way." She thought for a moment, before a wicked grin spread across her face. "I have the perfect idea. Lillie is getting stronger, but I'm sure she's still insecure around Team Skull." She whispered something in Faba's ear.

"You think that will work?" he asked.

"I'm certain of it."

Faba hesitated for a bit, before saying, "...alright. I'll tell them immediately, Ms. President." He nervously walked away toward the elevator.

Meanwhile, his Slowpoke was still unaware of what all had happened.

* * *

Reimu was still recovering from her experience when Wicke walked her and Hau down to the ferry dock. There, a boat bound for Ula'Ula Island was waiting, happily accepting passengers.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked tenderly. "That looked very traumatic."

"I'm fine," Reimu insisted. In reality, she was still trying to wrap her head around the hallucinations, the bad memories of her mother's death, and Necrozma falcon-punching her into the wormhole, and what it was all supposed to mean, but she tried her hardest to bury it. Sanae, of course, could tell her master was unwell, but couldn't do much except brood and wag her tail low from her perch atop Reimu's head.

"...well, alright, but before you go, I would like to give you both something." She reached into her bag, and gave a stack of malasadas to Hau.

"Wow, thanks!" he exclaimed. Wicke bowed, and then she gave Reimu a CD case, which turned out to be TM29 Psychic.

"I have one more thing," she said. She produced a pair of Aether Foundation sweatshirts. "It's a bit… cold on Ula'Ula, so you'll probably want these." Neither was sure how to take wearing sweatshirts in a tropical paradise, but they accepted them anyway. Afterward, they boarded the ferry bound for Malie City, and Wicke waved them off with a smile.

After the boat left, she walked back toward the main building, except she walked over to a little-used alcove near one of the desalination pumps, and after making sure no one was near, pulled out a radio and turned to a specific frequency.

"Three. Five. Nine. Three. Five. Nine. Seven. Two. Four," she recited.

"Yes?" another voice responded.

"Keter."

"...copy that. Will dispatch them immediately."

"Roger." She put the radio away, and went about her normal business.


	30. Cold Reception on Ula'Ula Island

The view from the ferry was not as breathtaking as the view from the sky, or as exhilarating as the one from the back of a Mantine, but it was beautiful nonetheless. From her seat, Reimu could see the islands rise above the cerulean, shining waters of the ocean, each blanketed in the green of trees and whose peaks rose into the heavens like monoliths.

But the island they were headed to, in contrast to the others, was veiled by a stormcloud, contrasting the clear skies that reached out as far as the eye could see. Furthermore, it was clearly blanketed in snow and ice, which made the tall mountains rising up from its base look like daunting Himalayan spires.

"That's a recent thing, huh?" she asked Hau.

"Yup," Hau said. "It was so weird. I saw gramps watching it on the news the day it happened. It was like something came outta the air, flew loops around the island, and covered it in snow and left a cloud keeping it like that."

"Interesting," Reimu nodded. "Do they know what caused it?"

"Nope," Hau said flatly. "They just think it's an Ice Pokemon of some kind, but they're still lookin' for it."

Reimu still thought about how one of the Doomers she ran into at Wela Volcano Park might be responsible for this as well, given how they were causing the increased volcanic activity there. But perhaps even more on her mind was that… sleep hallucination she experienced back at Aether Paradise. Pulling that awful memory of her mother's death as a child back was certainly intense, given how she felt she lost her mother too young, and to this day was never able to find out anything about her killer. She only knew that her mother was killed by something because Ran had told her at some point. The event had no witnesses, and Ran only heard Katsura's screams of agony from afar and rushed to her aid, but even her quick response was still too late, since Katsura had severe trauma all around and died soon after in front of the shrine. Yukari soon figured out, from some sleuthing, asking around, and examining her body, that she was hit by a massive psychokinetic force of some kind. Outside of that, they could never find the killer, who was apparently very good at covering up their tracks, and Reimu, throughout her adventures that brought her up against goddesses, divine spirits, vampires and even Lunarians, still always feared the day she might meet whoever or whatever it was face-to-face and suffer her same fate. Perhaps that's why she went after Sumireko, another Psychic, so hard, and had to be stopped by Yukari from beating her with her bare fists.

And perhaps it was no coincidence that Sasha was immune to Psychic attacks. Although she was keeping Stardust safe, upon learning of the type's existence she made a vow that she would never train a Psychic-type.

But also bothering her was that vision of Necrozma punching her into the wormhole. Ever since learning about Necrozma, she did what little research there was to be done about the entity, but she could never find much definitive about it other than Burnet's word, hearsay and conspiracy theories. Still, it was enough to get a rough picture in her mind of what it could look like should she ever encounter it. For some reason, her gut just told her that this thing had to have a hand in this incident somehow. After all, it did cause a past incident, where the prince was taken away from the land and it took the Island Guardians, Solgaleo, and Lunala combined to put it down. Now, 500 years later (she checked; apparently this year was exactly the 500th year since that battle occured) it could be at it again. Perhaps it punching her into the wormhole symbolized what basically happened several days ago when she was sucked in? Perhaps it wanted to remove her from Gensokyo to rain down its wrath which it couldn't do to Alola back then?

Random thoughts began running through her head. Would Marisa get herself killed trying to fight it? Reimu had always tried to steer her good since they first met, but given Marisa's demeanor that didn't always work. Would the sages put aside their differences long enough to fight it? Would they even be a match for it? Would the Dragon God get involved? Would _it _be able to match Necrozma in combat? Would the Barrier get destroyed… God, she hoped not. How many lives would it claim? How many of her friends would risk falling to stop it? Would certain shady characters try to ally with it instead of-

"Want a malasada?" Hau held one in front of her.

"Oh, uh, sure," she said, trying to be polite. Truth be told, she never actually tried a malasada her whole time here, and perhaps eating one would help take her mind off of things. Biting into it, the first thing she noted was its pleasantly tart flavor, like a granny smith apple, and as she savored it she also noticed the distinctive tinge of cinnamon sprinkled into it. Soon, one bite led into another and…

"Oh no, it seems I've run out of malasada," she joked. Hau tried to give her another, but realized he and Raichu ate them all already. Both shared a hearty laugh about their "predicament" as the first few snow flurries hit the windows of the boat, signaling that they were approaching their destination.

* * *

It was a sight Reimu had seen a million times before, but never in Alola: inches of snow on the ground being blown around by the wind, grey clouds above (except for the blue sky still visible on the horizon) sprinkling an endless supply of the white stuff, and a few people walking outside in heavy, insulated clothes.

Well, everyone except for Professor Kukui, who was still somehow standing out there in the same chest-baring attire next to Lillie, who was wearing two pairs of sweats, mittens, a toque and a white down jacket with its own zip code, both of them waiting for Reimu and Hau at the ferry dock. Reimu was used to the cold and so simply put on a pair of sweats over her shorts before stepping off, giving her sweater that Wicke had given her to Hau, who was still shivering even with two sweaters and sweats. But even so…

"Aren't you cold?" Reimu asked in the most incredulous voice ever.

Kukui just shook his head. "Nah, I'm always on fire, anytime, anyplace, cousin. That's just how I am. Doesn't even matter if it's cold out."

Lillie, of course, did NOT have a blazing hot soul like Kukui. "I'm just lucky that there's a ski resort on this island, otherwise I wouldn't be able to find winter clothes anywhere!"

Reimu looked around for a bit, then asked, "yeah, you said you and the professor were doing some research?"

"Uh huh," Lillie said blowing on her hands. "Actually, not 'normal' research. Kukui was trying to figure out what's causing this storm. Also…"

At that moment, electricity built up in the clouds above, before striking down mightily on the side of the mountain, causing the lights in town to go off before flickering back on after a few moments. Everyone's hair was standing on ends as a result.

"...it's not just the blizzard. Something is also causing lighting to crash down every now and then, and it's causing the lights to blow out in places. Some places on the island haven't had power for days."

"And of course, this is Alola, not Sinnoh or Novograd," Kukui interjected. "It's sunny, hot and humid, not cold and icy. People and Pokemon around here aren't used to cold and icy, so they're freezing their butts off. And no one knows how long it will last."

Reimu smirked. "I can tell you it will end the moment I find the Sphere Doomer causing it and giving it the business."

Kukui adjusted his glasses. "Come again?"

Reimu puffed. "Oh, yeah, let me explain." So she went ahead and told him about the encounter at Wela Volcano Park against two energy birds, and how Rotom came up with the name Sphere Doomer for both of them.

"...I see," Kukui said. "And so you guess one or more of these 'Sphere Doomers' is causing this storm?"

Reimu answered, "well, obviously I don't know for sure, but it's a big possibility. Unless you think Articuno or something is causing it instead."

Rotom popped out of Reimu's bag and showed the professor images of each of the Doomers it had captured during that incident. Having never saw them before either, Lillie and Hau both also took ganders at the images along with the professor. Hau was amazed at how fierce they looked. Kukui was intrigued, but also boasted that they weren't anything Suzie couldn't handle. Lillie… was silent, and when Reimu pressed her about it, she said she was fine and didn't comment further. "Well, _alright _," Reimu shrugged, knowing Lillie was hiding something. Lillie hid a lot of things, Reimu thought.

"You've been up to a lot," Kukui remarked to Reimu and co. "I knew you were a strong battler, but I didn't know you had surfing and racing in the blood, too!"

Reimu blushed slightly. "Uh, yeah."

"And you found these 'Sphere Doomers' and knocked 'em into next week! If you're right, if Doomers are causing this as well, we should have no trouble finding them and beating them, too!"

Hau decided to chip in. "Oh, and prof, you won't believe what we saw earlier today!"

Kukui looked down at him. "What was it?"

"It was an actual, real Ultra Wormhole! And not only that, but something came out of it!"

Kukui's eyes widened. "Really?! What did it look like?"

Reimu stepped in to comment on this one. "It was like a… jellyfish. And actually, it's not my first time seeing one. I saw one like it when I got thrown through that wormhole the first time." She decided not to fill Kukui in on how it attacked her and gave her the flashback and the hallucination. Instead, she cleared her throat and continued, "I'm getting very concerned about this incident. At first, I was just concerned about getting home, but now I feel like something very bad is afoot, and it won't stop with just me ending up here. Something's creating these wormholes, and I want to find out what and bring a stop to it before it's too late."

"Hmmm," Kukui wondered. "Well, I know my wife says they're related to Solgalo and Lunala-"

"And Necrozma," Reimu interjected.

"I suppose," Kukui conceded. "According to legend, Necrozma did banish the prince of Melemele into a wormhole." He paused for a second. "What makes you think it might be that?"

Reimu replied, "well, I just have this… gut feeling. Based on what I've been able to pick up about the two beasts, they don't come off as the kind of characters that would cause incidents like this. Also, the legend says they only banished it, rather than out-and-out destroyed it. That means it could still be out there somewhere." She paused for a moment. "At the lab earlier, Burnet mentioned a 'Delta Swarm' fourteen years ago. What was that?"

Kukui adjusted his glasses. "To be honest, I don't really know myself, 'cause I was only eleven and I didn't even know anything had happened because the stuff going on in Hoenn was all over the news at the time. In fact, I didn't know about it until my wife's mentor told me about it. Apparently, there was a bunch of Ultra Wormholes that opened up a bunch of different places, and Interpol and several regional governments worked together to cover it up to prevent mass panic, ours included. After that, there were rumors of people having disappeared into them, and people being spat out of them, but they covered those up as well."

Reimu thought about what Kukui had just said. Again, she thought that it was odd that this occured fourteen years ago, which was when Okina's seasonal incident also happened. Given that these were two different realities, it was most likely just a freak coincidence, but given the extent of Okina's power over backdoors and their ability to access other realms, it certainly seemed possible that the two could be connected in some way. She reckoned it might be a good idea to pump her and perhaps Yukari for answers if and when she returned to Gensokyo, because at this point, it was clear that simply returning home was not going to be the incident's end, and that whoever did this needed to be found and eliminated for their crime, and although she couldn't actually confirm it at this point, to her Necrozma was starting to become her primary suspect.

But she decided to get back to the here and now, which was solving this storm. "Thank you, professor," she said. "Now, this blizzard. What do you think we should do?"

Kukui rubbed his chin. "I dunno. I guess this might be an incident where the Island Guardian would get involved, but Tapu Bulu is known to be lazy."

Reimu smirked. "Well then maybe we just need to go and motivate it."

"Easier said than done, cousin," Kukui responded, "because its shrine is in the middle of a desert, which is probably iced over and probably covered in snowstorms. Charizards can't fly in this weather so they disabled Charizard Glide for the whole island, and trying to get there by foot… we'd probably all get lost and freeze if we just walked."

Reimu thought some more. Snow wasn't really a problem for her, since she was used to dealing with Gensokyo's unforgiving winters, but Hau and Lillie were probably unused to dealing with snow much, and going alone would be ill-advised.

"Snowshoes?" Reimu suggested.

"Yeah, they'd work… if you could find them here," Kukui said sarcastically.

Lillie then raised her hand. "Oh, I know, what about skis?"

Bingo, Kukui thought. "Now that's a good idea," he said. "I'm assuming all of you are still focused on your Island Challenge? Because if you are, there's a ski resort up near the observatory where the trial is. They don't lend out skis for free, of course, but I'm sure with Reimu with us we could explain our situation and get some no problem."

"Where is the next trial?" Reimu asked.

"Oh, yeah," Kukui said, and then pointed at the top of a mountain. "Mt. Hokulani Observatory. They run a rather shocking trial out of it, if you catch my drift."

Greeeeeeeeat, Reimu thought. It's at the top of a mountain in frigid weather, although she did also realize that there was probably a way up there that didn't involve hiking. And judging by what Kukui implied with "shocking," that meant that there was an Electric trial up there. Looking at her team, she realized that she had no weaknesses (unlike most Gyarados, hers could survive a jolt), but also nothing with Ground-type moves with which to punish them - she did find it kind of annoying that Electric-types were weak to only one other type. But hopefully, with a more-or-less even playing field it would make for an interesting challenge.

As it was beginning to get late, Kukui decided that it would be best if the group rested for the night before attempting the trial and trying to find Tapu Bulu - after all that had happened today, Reimu could certainly use a break. Kukui claimed to know a great inn with an attached sushi restaurant that they could all stay at; as soon as Reimu heard the word sushi, she jumped on the opportunity. Sure, it probably wasn't going to be like what she was used to having at home, but hopefully it would be close enough.

Actually, come to think of it, this whole town was giving her serious vibes of home. Kukui explained to her that Malie's architecture was because it was settled by Johtovian immigrants back in the day. Reimu still wasn't too clear on what or where Johto was, but its culture was obviously a lot like Japan… enough that it could be this world's equivalent. While Malie did have waterfront high-rises just like other large towns in Alola, the majority of it was made up of what resembled traditional Japanese architecture, with metal roofs and sliding doors. Many buildings had paper lanterns outside them, and some were adorned with characters that resembled Japanese closely enough that Reimu could, with some difficulty, read them and figure out that this was a "bar" and that was a "drug store." In fact, Reimu thought, if she blanked out the high-rise hotels, then minus having electricity and paved roads it looked very much like the Human Village back in Gensokyo. All that was missing were farmers pushing rickshaws down the street.

The group soon walked past the ornate entrance to the Malie Garden, which was adorned with brass statues of two bird-like creatures (which set off Rotom and revealed them to be statues of Lugia and Ho-Oh, respectively). Kukui felt the need to stop and inform Reimu on it.

"This is the Malie Garden over here," he said pointing toward the door. "It's a really popular park, nicely kept and they even stock it with Pokemon for trainers to catch. It also has a tea house, and man they make some really good tea there. Unfortunately," he pointed at the heavy wooden door with a sign hanging off of it, "it's closed right now because of the weather. A shame, too, because it sounds like it would be right up your alley."

_I'm sure it would _, Reimu thought while kicking around. The group was just about to move on when Hau heard something.

"You hear that?" he asked, looking around.

Reimu looked at him. "No, what is it?"

"It sounds like… someone's talking behind the door," he said. He went over to the door and planted his ear on the crack. Reimu and Lillie both decided to humor him and did the same thing. Someone was talking back there alright. Someone suspicious…

* * *

"It's cold, yo! Why are we out here?"

"Dude, I told you, the place is closed, so that means we can have it all to ourselves!"

"Yeah, but why? It's cold! I can't feel my feet!"

"Well then wear boots or something!"

"I can't afford boots, yo!"

"What do you want me to do, pick you up and carry you all over the place?!"

"No, I just don't wanna be here!

"The boss said he wants us here so we can get all the Pokemon in the park!"

"I don't see any Pokemon…"

"Dude, there's literally an Araquanid chillin' over there!"

"I don't wanna go near that thing! It looks like it's gonna bite my ass off!"

"Dude, just throw your Pokemon at it or something!"

"I only got a useless Rattata!"

"...man, you suck."

"I don't suck, I'm just sayin', I ain't got nothing! It's cold, I'm hungry, and I wanna get outta here!"

"You wimp! This isn't that cold! I got dunked into the water at night once and had to walk all the way back to boss in one night!"

"THIS IS SNOW, IT'S A LOT DIFFERENT! WHY DO WE EVEN HAVE SNOW?!"

"I dunno, maybe Articuno or something wanted to hang out here but it was too hot!"

"Well gee, if it's too hot, then why not go somewhere cold then?!"

"Mt. Lanakila's cold!"

"That doesn't count!"

"Oh, why not?"

"Because it's high! High places are cold! That's why I don't go to high places!"

"I dunno, you seem to like getting high places, if you know what I mean…"

"Oh, you sonuvuhbi-"

**_*BAM*_**

The two grunts broke off their bickering to look over and see someone had kicked the locked door to the gardens in, and in strutted Reimu, twirling her gohei about menacingly while Sasha walked beside her, punching his knuckles together and growling.

Reimu peered over her sunglasses, glaring right at the grunts. "Alright… who needs exterminating?"

The grunts, all 62 of them throughout the gardens, were petrified.

"AW SHOOT BRO, IT'S HER! BREAK FOR IT!"

"GET OUTTA MY WAY, BRO!"

"LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!"

And just like that, all the grunts scrambled about in all sorts of directions, clambering over the wood walls, banging through the back door and going out that way, while some braver grunts shoved past Lillie, Hau and Kukui out the front entrance. One grunt, unsure where to go, decided to just jump into a bush and hide.

Once the horde had cleared, there was only one figure left, crouched down in front of the tea pavilion at the other end of the golden bridge. The group, clear of the grunts, walked right up to him. He was clearly different from the grunts, with messy white hair and an open jacket, Team Skull necklace and sweats. Also, he was smiling.

Reimu walked right up to him and faced him. "You must be the leader, huh?"

He got up, and addressed her. "Heh, you're pretty smart. The hated boss who beats you down and never lets up… that's me, Guzma." He crossed his arms and laughed. "You know, scarin' off all my minions… who do you think you are, the police?"

"In a way," Reimu slyly said. She wasn't quite lying: being a Hakurei Shrine maiden often entailed being Gensokyo's one-woman police department. "The only thing that matters right now is that you're somewhere you don't belong."

Guzma shrugged. "I thought you were all concerned about getting back to whatever fantasy land you're from. Me, I'm here in the real and the now. I don't need any fancy magic, I just need to be the scariest, baddest dude in Alola."

Kukui shook his head. "Guzma, I keep telling you. Not being a trial captain isn't the end of the world."

Reimu looked at Kukui with a look of surprise. "...you know this guy?"

"Oh yeah, we went to school together," Kukui told her. "We both completed our Island Challenges around the same time, too. But they passed over him to be a trial captain, and he's never really gotten past that even though I keep telling him."

Guzma clicked his teeth. "But you never became a trial captain either, Ivan. Explain that."

"I never wanted to be one," Kukui retorted. "I wanted to become a Pokemon Professor and work with Hala to help new trainers on Melemele."

Guzma was silent, before turning to Reimu again. "Hmph. Well, I guess if you wanna mess with me, then I'll mess with you." In one fluid motion, he sent out a Pokemon: a giant, hulking and intimidating isopod monster covered in armor and with claws the size of a child.

But Reimu would not be intimidated, and instinctively sent out Gyarados to out-intimidate it. "Bring it on," she taunted. "Gyarados, mess this thing up with Dragon Pulse, will you?"

And so Gyarados unleashed a wave of red, blue and purple lasers from her mouth, which twisted and combined into a dragon's head, which roared before impact with the Golisopod, sending it back with enough force to crash into a wood mural. Then, something unexpected happened: without prompting, it went back into its Poke Ball, despite clearly still being fit to fight after the attack, prompting an Ariados to take its place to face the hulking draconic behemoth in front of it.

"Not bad," Guzma huffed, "but let's see how you take _this _." Ariados then spit out webbing, in order to try and trap Gyarados in place before Guzma switched Golisopod back out to take advantage of its predicament.

Frustrated, Reimu ordered Gyarados to use anything she could to free herself from the webbing. Meanwhile, Golisopod charged up and lunged forward with its claw outstretched right toward Gyarados's heart.

Finally, after struggling, Gyarados managed to break free by summoning a gust of wind around herself, which pushed Golisopod back slightly interrupting the attack. Then, Gyarados roared and let the gust develop into a massive column of air, which picked Golisopod up and slammed it into the ground, knocking it out for real and forcing Guzma to recall it and send Ariados out. Ariados tried the same trick of using Spider Web, but it was blown apart with Hurricane before it could land. One Ice Beam was all it took to freeze Ariados in place, letting Gyarados finish it off by slamming her tail, squashing the bug flat and giving Reimu the game.

For a short while, Guzma just stood there, eyes closed and calmly smiling. No one was sure what was going on.

Then, all of a sudden, he pulled on his air and started shouting upward, "ARRGH, GUZMA, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?! WHY DID YOU LET HER WIN?!" It spooked Reimu a bit, causing her to jump back before Guzma stopped and scowled at her.

"Whoddya think you are?!" he exclaimed.

Reimu cleared her throat, "just someone trying to solve an incident."

"Oh, is that what you call it, an 'incident?'" Guzma was clearly slighted despite Reimu not even talking about him.

"Well, snow in a tropical region, I think that counts as an incident, don't you think?"

Guzma wasn't listening. "Lemme ask you something: how does an outsider like you get so darn good in just a few days? Cheating?"

Reimu scoffed. "No, I wouldn't call it that. I would call it translating years of spell card duels over to Pokemon battles. I'll admit, that tactic with the Ariados tying up Gyarados with webs and then using another attack to finish it off was clever. It might also have worked if Gyarados didn't learn Hurricane when it did. But then after it did, you made the mistake of using the same tactic despite the fact that it wouldn't work and Gyarados knew how to counter it. You need to mix it up if you want to be successful."

Guzma huffed. "Heh… I wasn't even using my full team anyway. But I guess if you want to try and fix this blizzard, however you think you can do that, be my guest. Me, I'm off." And so he walked toward the back entrance to the gardens and out of sight. Just as he disappeared, a man ran out to meet the group.

"Haf, haf," he panted. "Thank you for taking care of those Team Skull guys for me. I thought for sure I was dead, there were so many." He did take a potshot at Reimu, though. "Although I suppose you're going to have to pay for a new lock on the gate."

Reimu chuckled. "I didn't realize I was THAT strong," she joked. "Must've been a really flimsy lock." Nevertheless, she did pay the attendant out for how much he thought it was going to cost to replace; when you have 3.5 million Poke Dollars lying around, that's chump change. The attendant bowed, then motioned the group over to the tea pavilion to have a seat.

"So, I guess you're Reimu?" he asked.

"I suppose," she said. Everyone laughed.

"You're very good at understating yourself, aren't you?" Kukui remarked.

"It's how I differentiate myself from my brash, loudmouth friend Marisa."

"You know, Marisa sounds like a real character," Kukui said.

"Well, she did once experiment with mushrooms by throwing them into a pot of stale soup and eating the results. I had to talk her down from trying to steal Yukari's panties with a garden rake." There was uproarious laughter all around: even Lillie brayed a little, while the attendant just looked on awkwardly, wondering what they were talking about.

"Anyway…" the attendant said trying to change the subject. "I also saw that you had a red Gyarados."

"Yes I do," Reimu answered, "I sometimes call her Wakasagihime, after a mermaid I met once. She's a pretty good fighter, and she seems to love me even if she doesn't show it." Gyarados tend not to have expressions other than "grumpy," "angry," and "completely and utterly pissed off."

"You know red Gyarados are extremely rare. You're very lucky to have found one. In fact, I think the last time someone in Alola caught one was in fact Prince Kamehameha."

"I keep hearing about him," Reimu remarked to the man. "He was hot stuff, apparently."

"He was legendary. His father, the king, was well-loved and respected, but the prince was a true man: he waterskiied between the islands led by a Sharpedo, he was a master Mantine surfer and invented the Over the Gyarados, he climbed mountains with his bare hands, and he was extremely charming, humble and strong. He united the islands under one crown, and he was the first person to meet Solgaleo and Lunala. They say he met his red Gyarados when he was a teenager, and nearly lost his life trying to catch it, but he did, and it became the strongest member of his team." He pointed at the pond which stretched from one side of the gardens to the other. "This pond is actually shaped like a Gyarados, to honor the one which the prince trained."

Reimu took another look at it. It took a bit, but she could see the Gyarados in the pond.

"Unfortunately, as you know, the prince was taken by Necrozma, send through an Ultra Wormhole to a place no one knows. His loss was widely mourned, and most agree he would have been an excellent king."

Reimu looked down solumnly. Somehow, she felt the loss of the prince even though she could never possibly have met him. Her plight seemed similar: sent through an Ultra Wormhole to a place she did not know. Would she end up like the prince, separated from home forever with no way back?

But then she looked up with a determined look. No, she thought. She would solve this mystery. She would solve it with her friends, both here and in Gensokyo. And she would make sure the incident was never repeated, not to her or anyone else, so that no one suffered the same fate as the prince.

"I'll make sure it happens to no one else," she said, almost dared.

"Well, with a reputation like yours, I wouldn't doubt it," the attendant told her. "I wish I could scare off 62 grunts just by being there."

Kukui thanked the attendant for his time, and led the group out of the garden and toward the hotel. First, though, they had to stop and have dinner. Reimu took pleasure at the wide selection of different sets available, and ordered one with filets from a Pokemon called Kokonee. It was some of the best sushi she had ever had, and she wished the merchants in Gensokyo could make sushi half as good. Hau, though, wasn't really much for raw fish, so Reimu took some of his as well. She thought it curious, though, that Kukui was munching on some sushi rolls that were the inverse of what they should be - rice on the outside and fish on the inside, rather than fish outside, rice inside. Kukui told her that it was something that chefs unfamiliar with sushi came up with by accident, but the result was tasty enough that it became an actual recipe. Reimu decided not to question it, and instead made a note just in case she felt the urge to inspire someone in Gensokyo to make it.

After dinner, Kukui checked everyone into two rooms: one for himself and Hau (Hau was excited to spend a night with the professor) and one for the girls. He and Hau were tired and went upstairs, but Reimu and Lillie weren't quite so tired yet, and Reimu wanted to go check out more things. Since it was getting late, many places were closing down for the night, and some were out of electricity due to the electrical storms, but there was one place Lillie knew about - and in fact was wanting to visit as long as she was on the island - that was close to where they were staying and was open late.

* * *

Walking up the stone steps to the Malie Library, Reimu couldn't help but think about the Mansion's library, where one could literally get lost for days wandering between the vast shelves stocked with arcane tomes and advanced magic grimoires. No other library was likely to be as big, she thought, but based on the sheer size of the building she realized that it had to come close.

"You really think that this place might have something that could help you discover more things about Nebby?" Reimu asked.

"I don't know," Lillie told her. "The archives here are extensive, though. I hope I can find at least something about Cosmog."

_That might be useful for myself to find out _, Reimu thought. She was, after all, carrying a Cosmog of her own, and according to Lillie, if Cosmog were associated with Ultra Wormholes, then finding something out about what secrets the curious little puffball might hold, and if she could possibly use them to get home.

_But how did Lillie know they were associated with Ultra Wormholes?_

Inside, the library proved to be even larger than the outside suggested. All around, extensive rows of shelves lined the walls and were arranged into neat aisles, with tables in between where people were busy reading books, journals, newspapers, magazines and even comic books. There was even an on-site cafe. Unlike Patchouli's library, there were also rows of computers where people were busy searching the web. Some screens had what were clearly pictures of Reimu and her Pokemon engaged in various exploits, a testament as to how popular she had become in such a short time. Other computers had text on the screen, accompanied by frantically studying students. Overhead, there was what looked like a Noivern carrying books from the book return office to their appropriate reshelving carts. Amazing that Pokemon could be trained to do that, Reimu thought. There were even multiple floors, and Lillie went up to the archives section on the third floor.

Normally, the archives were locked off, with access granted only to those doing approved research. However, Lillie flashed a card which turned the automated keypad green, unlocking the door and allowing them inside. Reimu was going to ask where Lillie got this card, but Lillie also mentioned that her family was rich and had a long-lasting status, so she decided not to mention it. Inside the climate-controlled room were several dusty tomes protected with scratch-proof sleeves or locked inside plastic cases, with one book left open on a table.

Lillie dove into the archives, looking for any book that could hold answers to some of Cosmogs secrets. Reimu, who was really only tagging along, was drawn to the open book on the table. The parchment pages were slightly worn, and it was written in a script which Reimu did not recognize. Just as she was about to touch the page, though, a child-like voice came from around the corner.

"Interested in that book, Reimu?"

Reimu's head jolted around, and she caught sight of a small, barefoot girl in a ragged dress with purple hair walking toward her. _Where did she spawn from? _, Reimu thought.

"I'm sorry, what's your name?" Reimu asked, and the girl giggled and twirled around.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Acerola. I was just looking around, same as you." She approached the book, all the while having a cat smile plastered across her face. "This book was written by one of my ancestors. Do you like it?"

Reimu looked at the script again. "Uh, I can't read any of this."

Acerola giggled again. "Oh, yes, it's written in ancient Alolan script. Almost no one knows it anymore, but my family still does because we're descended from the royal family. This book is all about the Alolan Prince and his meeting Solgaleo and Lunala." She read a passage from the page that it was open to:

"_ And so the Beast who Steals the Light, Necrozma, shadowed the land, and cast the prince into the void. The Guardians of Alola, joined with the Beast who Devours the Sunne, Solgaleo, and the Beast who Calls the Moone, Lunala, rose to the sky, and through their combined power banished Necrozma, showering Alola in light."_

Reimu was intrigued. "How long ago was this written?"

"Hundreds of years ago," Acerola told her. "My ancestor was a scribe from this very island, and a close friend of the Prince's. He wrote two copies, one kept here and one kept at the dimensional research lab. There is a version written in Basic which is kept somewhere else in the library, but this is the centuries-old original." She looked up at Reimu. "Are you royalty?"

Reimu looked aside. "Well, I wouldn't say _royalty _, but I do come from a very long line of Hakurei Shrine maidens, going back at least a thousand years. Where I come from is a land where everything that is forgotten ends up, full of all sorts of things that try to upset the balance. My job is to keep them all in line." She pulled out her gohei and showed it to Acerola. "I've had to use this thing to execute youkai who commit the very worst crimes, but usually I just use it to punish anyone I don't like, including my friend sometimes. Usually for stealing my food."

Acerola twirled around and struck a pose. "So you come from a proud line, too. Nice to hear!" Dear lord, Reimu thought. The amount of bubbles in this girl's voice was threatening to give her diabetes.

"Uh, sure," Reimu said awkwardly.

Acerola closed the book and put it back in its proper spot. "Well, I should go back now. The kids are probably wondering where I am."

"The kids?" Reimu asked.

"I take care of kids without parents at the Aether House," Acerola told her. "I'm like a mom to them. I cook for them and even give them their lessons."

"...how old are you?" Reimu asked, puzzled. Reimu was of course familiar with beings who were far older than they looked. She hadn't seen it here yet, but given all the strange Pokemon which existed, she wouldn't be surprised.

"Twelve!"

...Reimu shrugged. "Alright, just asking."

"No problem!" Acerola chirped. As she walked out the door, she turned and looked at Reimu. "You're on your Island Challenge, right? I'm the captain of the Ghost trial on this island. It's just south of Tapu Village. Let me know when you get there so I can set it up for you!"

"Alright, thanks!" Reimu waved Acerola off. Ghost trial, huh? Reimu didn't think that was going to be too hard, since Sasha had a big advantage over them, and none of her other usable Pokemon were weak to Ghost. She was still a bit more concerned about the Electric trial, since she couldn't rely on type advantage to cheese through it as she had with most of her previous trials, but then again, most of her non-Grand Trials up to now had a weird twist. Unless her trials going forward also had weird twists, she was going to have to face the Totem Pokemon legitimately.

In the end, Lillie's search came up blank, so the two of them walked back to their room together. The snow was flurrying hard, but Reimu helped Lillie get through it and eventually they made it back. They both decided there was little reason to stay up, as they both had exhausting days. Crawling into bed together, they made some small talk.

"Do you think you'll be able to make it back home?" Lillie asked.

"I don't know," Reimu mumbled. "Even if I do, something big is on the loose, and I feel like I have to put it down."

Lillie shook her head slightly. "I tried to find information on Cosmog, but I can't find it anywhere. I feel like Cosmog could lead us to a way we could get you back."

"How do you know much about Cosmog?" Reimu asked.

Lillie hesitated. "When I stole Cosmog from the lab, I also took some of the notes. They were conducting all sorts of horrible experiments on it. I couldn't help but save it."

"Fair enough." She wasn't sure how Cosmog could possibly help get her back, but it was an odd little creature even by this world's standards, so she wasn't about to completely doubt it. She also wondered how Lillie got into a secret facility to begin with, but Reimu could tell Lillie wasn't comfortable talking about it, and the research itself sounded like it was illegal, so Reimu decided not to press it too hard. As she drifted off, her mind started wandering in all sorts of strange directions, like whether she should change her hair back, or if she needed new clothes, or how she didn't know Lillie's last name…

"Hey Lillie," Reimu asked suddenly. "This might sound strange, but what's your last name?"

Lillie looked surprised. "Oh? Oh, well, I guess I never said what it was. Most people just call each other by their first names here."

"No, that's okay, I was just curious," Reimu said.

"My full name is Lillie Kirisame."

Reimu's thoughts jumped.

"Come again?" she asked.

"My last name is Kirisame."

"Really… that's… weird, I guess. That's my friend Marisa's last name too…"

"Oh?" Lillie wondered. "Well, maybe it's just a huge coincidence."

"I… guess it is…" Reimu shrugged as she drifted off to sleep.


	31. Iron Ball

Alice's cottage smells like the things of country living and dollmaking: tea and paint, firewood and ink, dried herbs and newly-fired porcelain.

It's been a busy day at the cottage, and Alice calls her dolls back to their places on the shelves at the end of a hard, long day of working. The dolls do not mind, as their only motivation is to serve the will of their master, such as one doll in particular, made several months before. With a clap of her hands, each one takes their spot on the shelf, and this doll is no different. The lights go out, and Alice goes to bed.

The doll sits on the shelf, awaiting orders.

A few hours pass, before an object slips underneath the front door, thin as the paper material which it resembles. Deft and without making a sound, it floats across the room towards the dolls.

Tonight, the Kartana has a mission.

It scours the shelf to find a suitable doll, until it arrives at one, sturdy, perky and robust. It sits front and center relative to the other dolls. The perfect vessel. Time to execute its mission.

Slowly, a glowing, yellow ball forms from the Ultra Radiation surrounding it, and makes its way to the doll, enveloping it brightly, but not brightly enough for Alice to notice. After a few moments, the glow subsides. Its mission is now complete.

The Kartana then attempts to escape, but unfortunately, it runs out of energy and goes into limp hibernation. It slips under a pile of junk, awaiting the day when light gives it life once again.

* * *

Alice banged on the door again. "Marisa?"

Silence, and then a whimper. "Go away." This morning, Alice had found Marisa barricading herself inside her workshop. At first, Alice just thought it was Marisa being Marisa, but quickly realized something was wrong with her.

"Marisa, I just want to check up on you," Alice called out, but there was no response. After a few moments, Alice sighed. She didn't want to do it, but Marisa was upset for some reason and Alice wanted to comfort her and talk her through it. So she recited a quick charm to undo the lock - why was Marisa relying on a mechanical lock, she still wondered - and made her way inside. Not surprisingly, the place was a complete mess, with books and papers strewn about, with the marked exception of the space around Marisa, who was sitting hunched over in the corner sniffling.

"Marisa, I-" Alice started, before Marisa turned around, wiping tears off her face. Rather than the yellow that Alice had come to recognize, she was immediately hit with eyes so green they threatened to pierce her very soul.

"What?" Marisa sighed with a tinge of annoyance.

Alice could not speak for a moment, before stammering, "...your eyes…"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Marisa replied. "This is my natural eye color."

Alice was stunned. "Really?"

"Yeah. I wear lenses usually."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alice asked. Marisa hesitated to answer, before doing so in a tone other than her normal rough, cocky one. "Because it brings back too many painful memories."

Alice could see that Marisa was tightly clutching a photo frame. "You look like you have a picture… could I see it?" Again, Marisa was hesitant. "Marisa, I just want to help you through whatever it is you're going through," Alice said in a soft tone.

Eventually, Marisa relented. "...I guess I'm not gonna hide the truth from you any longer."

"The truth?" Alice asked.

"The truth about my past," Marisa answered as she handed Alice the photo. Alice took a moment to look at it. In it were four people: a younger, fitter Mohn, who was holding up a small girl who Alice realized was a younger Marisa. Next to them, a pregnant woman with short, blonde hair whom Alice did not recognize, and beside her a cheerful boy who looked the same age as Marisa in the photo, all posing for a picture in a place that didn't look like anywhere in Gensokyo.

"Is this your family?" Alice asked Marisa.

"Yes." By now Marisa's tone was much more solemn. "And I'm sure you can figure out that I'm not from here. Not from Gensokyo, I mean."

Alice looked up. "Oh?"

"Let me back up." Marisa waved a finger over the photograph. "That's me and dad, obviously. This lady is my mom, and that's my twin brother, Gladion. When this picture was taken, mom was pregnant, but I'll never know if it was a brother or a sister."

Alice looked on, dumbstruck. "What… what happened?"

Marisa took a deep breath. "Well… I don't know that much, since I was only four at the time. But that photo was taken just a couple days before it happened. We were sitting at the table, eating dinner. I remember it was mom's homemade casserole, and we were having dinner in the big dining room at our mansion. Then, all of a sudden, there was a buzzing noise, before an Ultra Wormhole burst open right where we were, and began pulling us in. Mom got my brother and got away in time, but me and dad did not. I was scared so bad as we got pulled away. The last I remember of them was that mom was screaming and Gladion was crying. It was a blur after that, but eventually we got spat out here in Gensokyo, near the Human Village. We were fortunate enough to be picked up by Kourin, who took us in and, once he figured out we were foreigners, taught us Japanese and everything we needed to know about this place."

Marisa picked up a random grimoire off the shelf. "The real reason I began to study magic was to try and find a way home. Of course, with all there is to learn about magic stuff, mushrooms and lasers it's easy to get sidetracked, but I've never lost sight of my real goal. Most of the books I nab from Patchy's library are ones I think would help point me toward that, and believe it or not I usually return them when they don't have anything. I practice huge, flashy spellcards because I'm just trying to do what I can to survive. When I first met Reimu, I saw how confident she was, and I've followed her around ever since, trying to be just as good. The reason I moved in next to you was because I thought an experienced magician like you could…" She began to tear up again. "...could help me get home." Marisa collapsed into Alice's arms and gave her a big hug, sobbing all the time.

"There, there," Alice reassured Marisa, patting her softly. "I… I understand now. I understand a lot more. It's just… why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Marisa got up from her and answered, "because, like I said, it's too painful to think about, because it brings back too heartbreak, and I'm scared I'll never get home again. That's why I lie. I lie a lot. Even my hair is a lie: I make it this messy honey color, 'cause otherwise it's lighter and straighter, like my mom's. It takes my mind off worrying."

"Marisa, you don't need to lie around me," Alice reassured her. "We're here together now, and we're here for each other. You, me and Sunshine. I might not be able to get you home, but I'll do what I can to make sure you're not in pain."

Marisa grabbed a hankie and wiped her face with it. "...thank you, Alice. Thank you, it really means a lot that you care. I didn't think anyone would."

"Don't be silly," Alice smiled, "I'm sure there's a lot of people here that would care." She trailed off, then thought about something. "Although… since you mentioned it, an Ultra Wormhole…"

"Oh, yes," Marisa said. "That's what dad said they were. He and mom were scientists studying those things. And in case you're wondering, that's what took Reimu away a few days ago, was an Ultra Wormhole. When I saw it, it took me a while for me to realize what it was, but I froze up as soon as I did. Once I realized Reimu was sucked in, I started worrying even more. Me and dad were lucky enough to end up where we did, who knows where Reimu wound up." Alice did not particularly want to dwell on that, instead moving on to her next question.

"It sounds like your dad might know more about those wormholes."

"He probably does," Marisa said, "because he used to tell me about them a lot. He said that they were like a gateway to a bunch of conduits to other worlds, and the first time anyone saw them was centuries ago when-"

A shriek came from outside. It was Sunshine's voice.

"I reckon we should go check on the kid first," Marisa said swiping the Mini-Hakkero off the shelf and sprinting out the door.

"Good idea," Alice affirmed before going into full-on mama bear mode as she followed Marisa out.

They soon found Sunshine in the meadow, standing still while her three fairy companions floated behind her, seemingly also stunned.

"What is it, Sunshine?" Alice asked her. The child only pointed ahead of her, and when Alice looked, what she saw filled her with foreboding.

It was two figures that looked just like her and Marisa, but with grey, washed-out tones. The fake Marisa's eyes were blocked by a visor, the fake Alice had piercing, lemon-colored eyes. Both also had blank expressions on their face.

Marisa, in her infinite temperance, was quick to blurt out, "who the hell are you?" If they registered it, they didn't show it, and instead continued to walk up before stopping just in front of them, facing them, staring at them.

Sunshine wasn't too sure what to think. Her mothers had warned her previously of tanuki and kitsune who often pulled these sorts of tricks, taking on the forms of others in order to pull pranks and scare humans. These two figures, however, were giving intense otherworldly and unnatural vibes. Alice somehow didn't think they were shape-shifting youkai either, since neither had the telltale marks that kitsune and tanuki possessed, namely ears and tails that one could see and sense if one knew what to look for.

"Who are you?" Alice asked sharply, her dolls in attack position.

It took a while for either of the two to respond. "...we…"

"Go on," Alice continued.

"...we...are…" the fake Marisa said, before abruptly collapsing down to the ground, holding her arm and her hand to her face while clenching her teeth. It was clear to the three that she was in intense pain. However, she then got back up, as quickly as she had fallen, and continued to speak.

"...sorry...light...light...burns…"

_Light burns? _What did that mean, Alice thought.

Then it was the fake Alice's turn to talk. "...we...we...test…" was all she said before too falling to the ground, this time screeching in a horrific, metallic manner which forced the magicians to cover their ears for several seconds while grimacing, leaving their ears ringing for a few seconds afterward. However, for some reason Sunshine was not affected, while Ichigo was forced to cover her ears as well.

The fake Alice got up, continuing, "...test...the Light One." The fake Alice made a cue, prompting the fake Marisa to produce a ball with a blue fishnet pattern and golden ridges. Thinking this might be the faker's version of the Mini-Hakkero, Marisa did not hesitate to draw her own and began charging a laser. But instead of firing it, the fake Marisa threw it, splitting open in midair and releasing a stream of light, which materialized as a shadowy creature with huge, yellow-and-red eyes and a ruby necklace.

When she saw this, Marisa's eyes widened. "Is… is that a-" Before she could say anything more, Ichigo leapt into action, charging up and unleashing a powerful Shadow Ball which hit the Misdreavus faster than it could react, sending it backward a large distance. Misdreavus then attempted to retaliate with Power Gem, before Kartana stepped in and intercepted it with Night Slash, finishing it off and prompting the fake Marisa to recall it.

The fake Alice was next to throw a similar ball, releasing a creature that looked like a forlorn doll with needles sticking out of it. Marisa recognized this one as well: it was a Voodoll, which immediately tried to stab Ichigo with a needle.

Somehow, Sunshine then got a sense, which told her that Ichigo was no good against this one but to instead send Diancie after it. So she did, commanding Diancie to attack it. Diancie too recognized the Voodoll, and reckoned that one super-effective Moonblast ought to do the trick. Charging up and releasing it, Voodoll tried to dodge it but was unsuccessful, with the move being strong enough to down it in a single hit as well.

Fake Marisa then sent out a third ball, which popped out a small jack-o'-lantern creature - Pumpkaboo, Marisa recalled, after being stuck for a second. It opened with throwing seeds at Diancie, which Diancie narrowly avoided.

Sunshine then decided to do something interesting. She had figured out a third attack the previous day, and wanted to combine it with Kartana's abilities. Closing her eyes, she telepathically communicated with Kartana, and the two came up with a plan. Kartana got into position, parrying Pumpkaboo's Seed Bombs while, with a stretch and wave of the arm, Sunshine conjured up a searing hot wind around her - Heat Wave - and sent it forward at the battle in front of her, while Alice and Marisa jumped aside. Then, Kartana began to spin around, creating a wind column which captured the attack, concentrating it into a tornado of flames before launching it at Pumpkaboo, which was caught in the funnel and sent spiraling up in the fiery maelstrom before being slammed back down into the ground as it faded, forcing it to be recalled.

"Go get 'em, Sunshine!" Marisa rooted. Alice's dolls as well had gathered around to watch the powerful doll fight these two fakers and their minions. Even if she was no longer a doll, to them she was still the powerful doll, and they rooted for her the whole way.

Fake Alice nodded, seemingly in approval of Sunshine's skills, before producing what proved to be their final Poke Ball and tossing it. This time, it produced a Pokemon which Marisa did not recognize: a doll similar to Ichigo, but more closely resembling Medicine and her doll companion, Su-San, with white, beady eyes contrasting Ichigo's black ones, and carrying a knife dripping with poison. On closer inspection, the doll itself seemed soaked with some of the poison as well.

Sunshine got yet another sense, telling her to direct Ichigo to attack it with a powerful Psychic blast. Sunshine was beginning to pick up the concept of type effectiveness, and so directed Ichigo to attack. But this other doll was clearly a skilled fighter, as it kicked up a dust cloud to misguide and disorient Ichigo before emerging from it with a swift slash from its poison-steeped knife, causing Ichigo to drop to the ground in agony - _because Fairy-types are weak to Poison…_ wait, why did Sunshine think that?  
Either way, Sunshine quickly ordered Ichigo to come back and let Alice's dolls fix her up, before ordering Diancie out to whip up and hit this thing with Diamond Storm, but as Diancie was doing so the poison doll struck it with the tip of its metal knife, an attack which apparently caused great pain to Diance _because it was 4x weak to Steel_ huh? Why were these thoughts coming to her?

Sunshine was starting to get nervous, since this thing was busting through her companions like no one's business, and Marisa seemed ready to step in and take it on herself. Nevertheless, she decided to sic Kartana on it in a last bid to try and keep the fight fair. Almost immediately, Kartana's arm blades locked with the doll's knife with an audible_klang _, a pint-sized swordfight where each countered the other's advances. Sunshine realized she could use this as an opportunity to try and off the doll herself, so she began to focus. Meanwhile, Kartana had recoiled back, and the doll tried to use the chance to get a free hit in, but just before it could…

"DUM!"

Everyone looked up in the sky to see what made that sound. There, glinting in the sunlight was a metallic object which dived through the air at breakneck speed, before crashing straight into the doll with Iron Head, slamming it straight into the ground.

Sunshine got a look at this new challenger. It appeared to be a robotic arm with a ball joint that had a single red eye in it. It looked at Sunshine briefly, before turning its attention back to the doll on the ground and finishing it off with a Zen Headbutt for the KO, ending the match in Sunshine's favor.

As the doll was recalled, the two fake magicians looked at Sunshine. "...impressive…" fake Marisa said. "...the Creator...was right…"

Marisa drew her Mini-Hakkero right in front of her faker's face. "Cut the crap," she yelled, "unless you got spells up your sleeve, you've lost. Who are you and who sent you?!"

Fake Marisa did not respond.

"You've got exactly until the count of three before I blow your face open. Answer me!"

Still no response, either from her or fake Alice.

"One!"

As Marisa was doing this, Sunshine's hands began to glow. She looked at them, and then realized that they were reacting with the fakers, since they got brighter the closer they got to them.

"Two!"

Sunshine began to walk up to the fakers, which Alice quickly noticed.

"Sunshine, what are you doing?" she exclaimed. "Those two are not us! They're dangerous!" But for the first time, Sunshine felt compelled to ignore her mother's words, and walked right up to the fake Marisa, touching part of her skin with her hand. As soon as she did this, fake Marisa began to light up, before glowing so intensely that she was too bright to look at, causing the real Marisa to back off and cover her eyes with her arm.

"Ghaaah!" Marisa grunted as she looked away. Alice too was forced to look away, but strangely, Sunshine just watched the whole thing unfold. The fake Alice was also caught up in it, glowing brightly as the rays touched her the same as fake Marisa.

This took a few more seconds, before the fake Marisa's glow died down. Soon after, the fake Alice's glow died down as well, and the real magicians could look at their doppelgangers once more. But now, they were dramatically different, and had actual color now instead of being washed out. The fake Marisa… looked like a pretty good replica of the real deal, except for the purple dress and the red hair. Meanwhile, the fake Alice looked similar to the original, but the colors of the dress and headband and ribbons were backward with a red dress and a blue hairband. Her hair was more of a dirty blonde as well.

The two fakers, after a few moments of latency, suddenly snapped into consciousness, seemingly overwhelmed with new sensations as they looked at themselves with amazement and awe. Fake Marisa took off her visor, revealing hazel eyes, and looked around, before suddenly starting to panic.

"...wha, huh, HUH?!" she exclaimed. "Why is everything so bright?! All these weird shades! AHHH!" She fell to the ground covering her eyes while still freaking out, before calming down after a few seconds and saying, "...oh. Uh, sorry, I guess this is… color?" Apparently, she had been seeing things in black and white before. She got up, and grabbed Sunshine's dress. "This dress, the color of this dress is… yellow!" She pointed up. "And the sky is… blue!" She got down on the ground. "This is, I think, grass, and grass is… green!" She chirped as if she were just a child learning about colors.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, colors are cool," Marisa said, "but you still haven't answered my question. Who are you, and who sent you?"

Fake Marisa got back up and looked at her. "I'm… Marisa? I think?"

Marisa snorted, "no, I'M Marisa! I'm the REAL Marisa! And this is the REAL Alice!"

Fake Marisa seemed confused. "But… I thought I was Marisa… I don't understand…"

It was clear that Fake Marisa was having an existential crisis. Somehow, Alice didn't hear malice in her voice; instead, this "faker" genuinely believed she was, in fact, Marisa. All this was threatening to make her head spin, so she decided to step in.

"Please excuse my friend's rudeness," she said to fake Marisa. "She's just as confused as you are. Now, can you please explain to us who you two are?"

Fake Alice spoke first this time. "...I… think I'm Alice? Alice Margatroid? The puppeteer magician?" What looked like a Shanghai doll popped out from behind her. Unlike (real) Alice's dolls, this one seemed to have full awareness, looking more like a miniature person who happened to have doll joints rather than something that was clearly a doll, complete with having an expression of curiosity.

"Interesting," Alice thought. "So, you two clearly think you are who you are, but you aren't sure?"

Fake Marisa answered, "...I guess. I mean, the Creator did only create us a few days ago or so…"

"The Creator?" Alice asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Fake Marisa responded. "We were sent by Him to evaluate Sunshine. He wanted to know how strong she was, and gave us these Pokemon to do that with. And, well, she seems to be coming along. I mean, she gave us light. The Creator can't give things light yet. He doesn't have enough power."

Alice nodded, "I see." She looked at Sunshine, then back at the fakers. "And this 'Creator' of yours wanted to know her strength because…"

"He didn't say," Fake Alice said. "He just sent us here to test her."

"Does he intend her harm?" Alice asked more sharply.

"No, no, of course not," Fake Alice said holding her hands up. "He wants her to be safe and strong. He said that He's been watching over Sunshine since the moment she first had thoughts, and had Xerneas give her power and life once he felt the time was right."

Alice felt a chill go up her spine. She thought about Sunshine. Did the "Creator" create her as well? Was Sunshine related to this incident? And who was this "Creator?" Were they the party responsible for sucking Reimu through the Ultra Wormhole?

"...I see," she said, nervously.

"I dunno," Fake Alice admitted. "That's just what he said. I don't know why he sent us, specifically. This is really weird."

Pot hello kettle, Marisa thought.

Alice kept on asking questions. "Alright. So, this 'Creator.' Who are they, and what is their purpose?"

Fake Alice seemed stumped. Fake Marisa, though, was willing to step in and answer.

"We just call him The Creator. We call him that because he created all of us, me, Alice, everyone else. He only said he wanted to bring light to the world, but He doesn't have the power."

"How does he intend to get 'power?'" Alice asked sharply.

"He didn't say, not to us, anyway," Fake Marisa said. "He just said He wanted to gather energy, fuse his power with that of something called a Solgaleo or Lunala or something, and use that to-"

Marisa froze. "...Solgaleo and Lunala?"

"Uh… I guess?" Fake Marisa said somewhat confused.

No one spoke for a second while Marisa thought. Then, she blurted it out, "I think I know what's going on, you don't have to say anything else." She ran back toward the cottage.

"Marisa," Alice asked turning to Marisa. "Where are you going?"

"I gotta get this in writing," Marisa blurted out. "Then I gotta warn everyone else." She shut the door behind her.

Alice turned back toward the fake duo. "...is there anything else I can do for you?" she asked.

Then both fakes took out their Poke Balls and presented them to her. "The Creator wanted you to have these Pokemon," Fake Alice said.

Alice looked at the Beast Balls in front of her. _Pokemon? _she wondered. That's what Xerneas said they were. What importance did they have toward the incident? Could they provide answers? Alice was hesitant to take on even more freeloading creatures, but not wanting to be impolite, she accepted the gift. She could probably figure out how to get them home safely at some point anyway.

With that, the two fakes bowed, then walked off into the forest. Alice led Sunshine and her posse, which now included Beldum, inside the cottage where Marisa was. Minutes later, out of sight from the cottage, the two fakes approached the Ultra Wormhole they had arrived here from, and stepped inside it, leading them back to whence they came.

* * *

"Necrozma?" Alice asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, Necrozma," Marisa replied. "It has to be it."

It was later in the evening. Marisa and Alice were munching on sandwiches while Sunshine inhaled her third one-pound slab of meat in a week, all while the various Pokemon were scattered about playing. Sunshine came up with names for the two doll Pokemon: she decided that Ichigo was a "Wisdoll" while the poison doll was a "Murdoll," and both were engaged in a friendly duel. Misdreavus had taken an interest in one of Alice's grimoires, Diancie and Voodoll were sword fighting with needles, Pumpkaboo was eating a bunch of berries, while Kartana was trying to discipline Beldum with absolutely zero success.

"Let me explain. So, Necrozma was the figure that banished Prince Kamehameha 500 years ago, and it took the combined efforts of the Island Guardians plus Solgaleo and Lunala to banish it in turn. That's what dad told me, at least. Now, it looks like it's got its sights set on here, Gensokyo."

Alice did think that Necrozma was kind of a silly name, since it sounded like the name of a villain of a 90's pulp monster comic magazine, but still took what Marisa was saying seriously nonetheless. "What does that mean for us?" she asked.

"I dunno," Marisa said, "but probably nothing good. According to legend, it had the ability to absorb light, then use it to unleash devastating attacks."

This set off bells in Alice's head. "Oh, so just like Sunshine's Photon Geyser attack?"

"Yeah, just like-" both of them gasped.

"...do you think…?" Alice asked again.

"Think what?" Marisa replied.

"Do you think Sunshine is connected to Necrozma somehow?"

Marisa scratched her head. "I think at this point it's safe to assume Sunshine was _made _by Necrozma. Maybe not literally, since you made the doll of course, but perhaps Necrozma was responsible for giving her a personality, or something."

Kartana overheard this, and went over to Sunshine. This caused Sunshine to focus hard, such that both of her mothers wondered what was going on.

"Sunshine?" Alice asked, "is it saying something to you?"

Sunshine spoke up. "Kartana says that's exactly right."

Both magicians were stunned. Alice especially. She realized now that Sunshine gaining thoughts was no accident, or a result of a breakthrough of her studies. No, it was intentional, and planted there by someone or something who may or may not have plans for Gensokyo's future.

It took a moment for her to pick her jaw up from the floor, and realize that, even in her years of advanced magical studies, she was unwittingly being used by a force whose scope was way over her head. For once, Marisa was the more knowledgeable one, if even only slightly.

Sunshine explained how Kartana was tasked with planting the genius into the doll that became herself to begin with, explaining why Kartana was found while cleaning the place up the other day. And all the other Pokemon had something to say as well: each of the four Pokemon used by the fakes were abducted from their home habitats by a creature resembling a black, crystalline mass, with the exception of Murdoll, who claimed to have been specifically created as a parallel to Ichigo/Wisdoll. Beldum followed the Misdreavus through the wormhole because it was curious, and snuck into Gensokyo fearing the two fakes were up to no good. But Diancie had the most telling story: she was Xerneas's servant, and came from a reality where the world was destroyed by the rampage of two beings called Kyogre and Groudon, trying to restore life but failing. Necrozma allegedly offered them a fresh start in a better world in exchange for aiding it in its plan, but it was ill to elaborate on said plan.

Marisa slumped back. "That's gotta be it," she said. "That's gotta be the reason I'm here, too, is Necrozma." She shook her fist in anger for a bit, before settling back down.

"So, you think we have our culprit?" Alice pondered.

Marisa pounded the table. "Oh, I KNOW we have our culprit," she scowled. "Now we just gotta find the bastard and beat 'im up."

Alice wondered if Marisa was just slipping back into classic Marisa, venting pent-up anger over her displacement, or both. Regardless, she asked her, "But if Necrozma is making these Ultra Wormholes, how are we supposed to find it?" Marisa just slumped over on the table for several seconds stewing while many sets of eyes rested upon her.

Then, she got a brainwave.

"Rumia," she said pointing a finger up. "Rumia must be related."

"Hm?" Alice wondered.

"Alright, okay, so remember how I got Cirno to say that Rumia's been making herself scarce on-and-off since slightly before this incident started, and how she's been acting all weird?"

"Yes?" Alice said.

"She must be related to this incident. She could be doing favors for Necrozma. Hell, she could _be _Necrozma for all we know."

"Doubtful," Alice said while primly sipping tea.

"Not quite," Marisa retorted waving a finger. "The same legend did say that Necrozma disguised itself as a fair maiden when it first met the prince, and the fight actually happened on what would have been their wedding day."

Alice spat the tea back out. The thought of an eldritch god tricking a man into marrying it seemed… repulsive to her.

"Think about it," Marisa said excitedly. "That amulet on her head which she can't touch, her disappearances… she's hiding crap, and I've suspected she's been hiding crap ever since I first met her. I did tons of research on different types of youkai when I was first living on my own to learn what I was facing. There is no such thing as a 'darkness' youkai. What if she's something else?"

Alice spent the next few minutes taking in the amusing sight of Marisa feverishly writing more things down than she had ever seen the witch put down in her life so far, the only time she was absolutely dead-serious. At the end, Marisa had covered three pages of notes in black, dripping ink. Alice looked over them: the notes covered everything they had talked about, including how Rumia was possibly hiding things, the two fakes (although Marisa referred to them as "Alice and Marisa from an alternate universe"), all the Pokemon, Xerneas, Necrozma, the Island Guardians…

"...so, what should we do with all this?" Alice asked while her glasses fell down on her nose.

"Isn't it obvious?" Marisa chirped. "Tomorrow we gotta go find Rumia and pump her for clues. Worst case scenario, it's just another dead-end, but I think I'm really onto something here. Certainly we have to show everything to the others."

"Perfect timing, too," Alice noted. "Tomorrow night, Yukari is calling a Border Patrol meeting at the mansion. Everyone is going to be there. I've been keeping in touch with some of the others, and it sounds like we've all got some really great leads. Patchy says she has a text which she thinks is an 'answer book' for the whole incident. Mokou had a run-in with a giant bamboo rocket mecha. Sakuya claims to have run into two figures; based on her descriptions, they could also be some of these 'Pokemon' which we have. I also heard Yuuka is going to be there as well; she has a big muscle bound bug creature with her which found Seija, and she's going to collect the reward and also share things with us." Alice was confident this incident was close to being solved, the only thing they were missing was the culprit in the flesh, and even then Marisa was convinced she knew its identity. And the revelation that Marisa herself was from another world only added fuel to the fire.

Then, she felt a poke.

"Misdreee~"

Alice blushed slightly. "Oh, are you hungry? Well, uh… Marisa, what do 'Pokemon' like?"

Marisa looked up. "Oh, Pokemon? Depends on the species, and I haven't worked with them that much, but generally, they all like fruit and berries." Marisa took an apple from the fruit bowl and gave it to Misdreavus, who gnawed on it a bit, then sung in approval.

Alice smiled. "Well, it certainly looks like she enjoyed-"

"It's a male," Sunshine corrected Alice.

"Hmm?" Alice wondered.

"That Misdreavus is a boy, even though he looks like a girl."

Alice blushed harder, and turned to the ghost Pokemon. "Oh, sorry for assuming, I thought you were-"

"All the Pokemon they gave us were males, too."

Alice looked around at the four. She didn't realize they were all boys. Even Murdoll, which looked like a feminine doll that even resembled Medicine, was a boy. Then, Alice noticed Murdoll and Ichigo acting… strangely. _Too _strangely.

"Mom?" Sunshine asked. "What are they doi-" Alice's face blushed as red as a beet and she covered Sunshine's eyes with her hands.

"Mom, what are you doing?!"

"We'll… have this conversation another time," Alice said sheepishly as she led Sunshine out of the room. Meanwhile, Marisa just sat there with Misdreavus next to her watching how Pokemon eggs were made.


	32. Lost Thunder

The ocean breezes which normally rustled the moist leaves of palms and ferns instead blew gusts of powdery snow across the path. The snow, nearly a foot deep in just a few days despite the warm tropical air just beyond the island, cast a veil of white as far as the eye could see, juxtaposed to the palm trees standing above. Cold air threatened to freeze one right to the bone, and the snow concealed any sign of life that may have once trodden this reedy meadow.

All, except for a set of blue, fluffy tails poking up above the snow. The tails moved around leaving a burrowed path, before a nose stuck out, sniffing the air, before Snowy jumped from one patch of snow to the next.

"Snowy, get back here!" Lillie shouted, flustered. She chased Snowy around, to no avail, while Reimu and Hau stood back chuckling at Lillie's predicament.

"I think she's really enjoying the snow," Reimu commented.

"I just let her out to play for a moment! The bus will be here soon!" Lillie complained.

Hau looked at Reimu. "Ya think we should help her out?"

"Oh, I suppose," Reimu said. Both sent out Hedwig and Sasha, respectively, to try and out the foxy little Vulpix. Being a full Decidueye now, Hedwig opened her wings and flapped up a mighty gust of wind which blew all the snow off of where Snowy was hiding. But then she just jumped into the next nearest patch. So Sasha used Flamethrower to melt a ring around where Snowy was to try and trap her, but Snowy, defiant little booger she was, popped her nose up next to the ring and burrowed into even more snow.

"Hm," Reimu smirked. "You gotta be careful with foxes. They're really tricky, and are very good at getting into places you don't want them." Meanwhile, Lillie fell face-first into the snow, prompting Reimu to go over and help her back up.

"Vee!"

Reimu turned around to find Sanae wagging her tail expectedly, facing Snowy. Reimu crouched down and said, "what's up girl? You got something?"

Sanae was silent, then began wimpering slightly. Reimu wondered what it was that Sanae wanted, before realizing she did this when asking for berries.

"You want a berry?" Reimu held out a Wiki Berry to Sanae, who got it with her teeth and wandered over to Snowy. She crouched down, seemingly in anticipation, batting her tail back and forth.

"What's she doing?" Hau asked.

"I don't know," Reimu told him, "just let her do her thing."

This went on for a few moments, before a nose poked out of the snow, sniffing around before locking onto the Wiki Berry. Slowly, Snowy came out of the snow, and approached Sanae. The two Pokemon stared at each other briefly, before Sanae dropped the berry onto the ground and chirped. Snowy took a second before approaching the berry and nibbling on it. As she nibbled, Lillie slowly came up from behind, and in one swift motion, grabbed Snowy, flipped her around, crouched down and got her by the jowls before getting in Snowy's face.

"I got you, you little troublemaker," Lillie said. Snowy growled lightly. Lillie continued, in a scolding tone. "You, young lady, are nothing but trouble… you're _completely_ridiculous… you don't come back when I tell you to!" She then pecked Snowy on the forehead, before flipping her over on her back. "I got you, I GOT you," she said in an increasingly cringeworthy Yoda-esque baby talk voice. "Who's got the rubby belly? _Who's got the rubby belly? _" She furiously rubbed Snowy's belly, all while Snowy laid back with her tongue hanging out of her mouth while growling lowly. This was all capped off with Lillie giving her a raspberry and then getting on her and holding her in a half-Nelson, while Reimu and Hau looked on with very puzzled expressions. Even Sasha didn't quite know what to think, not helped by the fact that Sanae was now sitting on_his _head.

A few moments later, Reimu looked up and heard the clanking sound of a bus with chains coming down the hill, motioning Lillie to get Snowy back into her Poke Ball and get back up.

"Oh, uh, sorry!" Lillie blushed, fixing her hair. "I guess I got a little carried away there, didn't I?"

"Indeed," Reimu smiled. "You know, just a couple weeks ago, you weren't even a trainer. Now you're giving Snowy noogies and you have a bunch of different Pokemon."

Oh, Lillie thought. "Um, well, maybe I'm just getting more confident… around you, that is."

Reimu was flattered. "Heh, I didn't know I could make people so confident and cocky so fast. Maybe that's why Marisa is like how she is?"

Lillie pouted. Cocky? Her? "It..it..it's not like that!" She stammered, notably slipping out of her innocent tone into a slightly rougher one. "It's just… it's just that I want to prove I can take care of myself around you! I ain't a kid anymore, I can train Pokemon just fine!"

Reimu gasped. "Did… did you just say _ain't?! _"

Lillie stopped herself and blushed hard. "Oh… oh, did I?" She grasped herself and looked away. Her face was visibly steaming even if Reimu couldn't see it. After a few moments, Lillie finally turned back around. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized profusely. "That wasn't very lady-like, was it?"

Reimu wondered about this. She noticed that, as Lillie had grown more confident in her abilities while Reimu was around, she generally acted more belligerent, cocky and gained a rougher tone in her voice and disposition… _just like Marisa _.

"Say," Reimu suggested, "you said your last name was Kirisame. Maybe you and Marisa are related," she joked. "In fact, maybe you're Marisa's counterpart in this world."

Lillie wasn't sure how to react to that one. She was _fairly _certain she wouldn't cause as many explosions, even with Adele's propensity for them, and she _definitely _wouldn't get nearly as drunk. Either way, she just brushed it off, and as the bus up to the top of Mt. Hokulani pulled up, she handed the driver their passes and got on board. The three were the bus's only passengers for the two-hour haul up the snowy, rocky road up to the summit.

* * *

Despite the harsh conditions up at the summit, it was actually quite busy: the ski resort was right next to the observatory, and it was absolutely swarming with skiers, all drawn to the slopes by the unusual uptick in snow. Reimu decided to take pictures; the downhill skiing looked fun, and perhaps she could introduce this sport to Gensokyo when she got back. Of course, the Moriyas would probably try to open up their own ski resort, since they already had a lift, but even so it would be a fun way to while away the winter in Gensokyo.

Entering the main lodge, it didn't take long to find the sales counter, with all sorts of skis stocked behind it on display. Eagerly, they walked up.

"Alola!" The bespecticled man behind the counter waved at them. "How can I help…" he looked up and immediately noticed Reimu. "Oh hey, Reimu! Welcome! I guess you came here for the trial!"

"Well, that too," she said, "but we're also here for skis. I heard they're a good way to get around snow."

The man smiled awkwardly. "I guess they are! We don't normally get this much snow, obviously, but we've been seeing a lot of business lately. I just didn't think you'd come here!"

Reimu shook her head. "I seem to be winding up everywhere on these islands," she said. At that moment, a short, pudgy kid walked in through the doors and looked at them.

"Hey big 'mo!"

"Alola, Sophy!" He got out from behind the counter and gave the kid a hug.

Reimu asked them, "you know each other?"

"Of course! This is Sophocles, he's my cousin and the new trial captain. I'm Molayne, by the way. I used to be the trial captain, but after I heard Sophy had completed his island challenge, I just had to give the position to him. I work here at the ski resort so I can keep an eye on him and make sure he's doing alright."

Sophocles looked at the group awkwardly. "Yeah… I actually just got the job yesterday. I haven't had any challengers yet. And…" he looked at Reimu, and was clearly intimidated by her. "...I guess you're gonna be my first challengers?"

Reimu looked at Sophy, then looked at Lillie, then looked at Sophy again, then looked at Hau, then looked at herself before looking at Sophy once more. "Looks like it."

Sophy wiped sweat off his forehead. "Well, alright. Guess I better go get the trial set up. I just wanted to talk to Big 'Mo, but I guess I'm not doing that today." He walked back out the front doors.

Molayne looked back at the group. "So, skis. Just curious, what brings you here to want to ski?"

"We want to use them to cross the desert and try and get to Tapu Bulu to end this blizzard," Lillie said. Molayne was of course skeptical of them wanting to do this, but then again this blizzard was not natural, and they seemed pretty confident of what they were doing, so he wasn't about to question it.

"I see," he said. "Well, if that's the case, then you're certainly at the right place. Not only do we sell a bunch of different types of skis, we also offer lessons for your first purchase." He looked at Reimu. "I don't imagine you've skied before, have you?"

"Er…" Although Gensokyo was snowy and Reimu did snowshoe sometimes, she usually just flew over the snow rather than deal with travelling through it.

"Well, I'll make you a deal. I can have them give you a quick lesson, and if you pass it, I'll give you a prize," Molayne told them.

Lillie stepped forward and plunked down a bunch of cash - enough to cover skis for the whole group. Reimu was shocked for a moment, but then she did remember that Lillie came from a wealthy family and that the professors had a healthy income as well. Not only that, all three of them had tons of winnings from battles, so that took off some of the shock factor as Reimu re-focused on Molayne.

"Let's do it," Lillie said, determined.

* * *

A few minutes later, all of them were outside, decked out in ski gear and accompanied by an instructor. Around them, scores of skiers had hit the slopes, taking advantage of the unusual weather to kick up epic amounts of powdery snow.

"I'll be honest," the instructor said, "I've been following your goings-on ever since the news broke that you'd been coughed out of a wormhole, and I can't believe I'm meeting you, right here, right now."

"Yeah yeah," Reimu brushed off, "I've been getting that a lot."

The instructor, and everyone, laughed. "Ah, sorry. I'm sure you have." Afterward, he began to demonstrate to the group how to use skis, including the standard "pizza/potato fry" maneuvers for slowing down and speeding up. Hau was the first one up, and after a couple goes through the bunny hill, he passed his test.

Lillie was the second one up; despite her initial hesitance, she knew it would be helpful for Reimu to watch a second person before trying it herself. Lillie stumbled a bit at first, but after some coaching and further instruction, she managed to get the hang of the basics of skiing.

"Alright Reimu, your turn." The instructor led Reimu up to the top of the bunny hill. At the top, he quickly ran her through the maneuvers again, but Reimu just wanted to get through with it, and after he finished, Reimu impatiently stuck the poles down into the snow and pushed herself down.

A bit too vigorously, she thought, since it felt as though she was going down faster than either Hau or Lillie. No worry, there was a flat stretch just beyond the bunny hill which should have kept her from going much further, and Reimu started to apply the brakes. But just as she was trying to, a ferocious wind gust blew from behind her, propelling her across the snowflat and right onto the main slope of the ski area.

"Oh. Oh no. Oh nonononononono!" Reimu sputtered as she began to rocket downhill uncontrollably, barely dodging rocks and at risk of wiping out any second. It got even worse when a sloped rock appeared just ahead of her which she could not dodge. She knew what would happen once she hit it: she would rocket up and surely crash. What would happen then? Would she be crippled, or worse?

But then she had a sudden thought: looking out across all the snow - frozen particles of water - and all the slopes and jumps - like frozen waves - Reimu realized: this was very much like Mantine Surfing! So she adjusted her mindset, took a deep breath, and let herself go up the slope at high speed.

Time seemed to slow down once she was airborne, and adrenaline rushed through her system.

"Oh… ooooooooohhhh YEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Then, just like a boss, she landed on the snow like a champ and continued to drift and drag across the wispy packs of snow, weaving in and out of rock spires and rocketing past other skiers. Just to show off, she went up another jump, and re-enacted Over the Gyarados from memory, catching flashes of light from cameras trained on the race she had just completely passed, including a champion skier from Novograd.

Like all good things, though, this rush had to come to an end, as she crossed the finish line intended for the race to rousing applause. When people found out she was Reimu Hakurei, she got even more press attention than the actual winner of the race, who came in just behind her. Within seconds, she had a dozen microphones trained to her as she gave live interviews to every news and sports network in the region.

Within moments, these interviews were being broadcast live, and watching them on TV just after work, Elio knew he just had to bolt there in person to go meet her, so he hopped atop Alduin and did just that.

Reimu came back up the ski lift, to the wild praise of Molayne, Lillie and Hau.

"You completely killed it!" Hau exclaimed jumping up and down.

"That was awesome!" Lillie said as well, in an elevated tone.

Molayne walked up to Reimu and shook her hand. "Hey, congrats! I didn't realize you were so good at skiing!"

Reimu blushed. "Uh, yeah, thank you. I didn't know I was either!"

Molayne reached into his pocket, got out a silver Z-Crystal, and presented it to her. "This is a Steelium-Z. I used to give these out as prizes for my trial. You did so well that you deserve it!"

Reimu accepted the Z-Crystal, then the ski instructor came over to the group and handed them each Icium-Zs, which the resort gave out as prizes for trial-goers who passed their safety tests, before extending his personal congratulations to her.

"That, was absolutely superb," he said to her shaking her hand. "Are you sure you're a beginner to skiing?"

Reimu play-kicked the air. "I… I guess not. Then again, I did wreck at Mantine surfing, and this was very similar, and…"

"And nothing, that was the best score for this course that we've recorded ever since we opened! You outdid seasoned ski champs! And look at the TVs over there!" He pointed at a wall of flatscreens which had at least six different stations playing, all depicting her interview to the reporters. If ever there was a doubt that she was famous before, now her face was all over the region and possibly beyond as well. Like it or not, she was turning into a superstar, and soon she would be collecting mountains of royalties for use of her likeness.

_Now why can't I get this level of popularity back home?, _she wondered.

* * *

With the ski resort behind them, the group then turned their attention to the Mt. Hokulani Observatory, the site of their next trial. After stopping at the Pokemon Center to stock up on supplies and heal, they entered the modern observatory.

Reimu, at this point, was starting to get used to all the technology around her, but the observatory was still quite the sight: scientists pacing to and fro, taking observations, looking at computers with vector diagrams and weather models and inputting the data into their tablets. In addition to the space telescope which was the observatory's main feature, it also tracked weather, and the observatory's meteorologists were busy analyzing the effects of the cold weather that had enveloped the island, and the systems it was creating.

After some asking around, the scientists pointed them to a room near the back of the observatory which housed the trial. They also explained that having a trial there was Molayne's idea, since his father worked at the observatory at a time when it was struggling to attract visitors, so he felt that having it be a stop on the Island Challenge would attract more crowds. But before they proceeded to the trial, Reimu asked if she could look into the telescope, which they let her do.

Reimu had been fascinated by telescopes ever since Eirin let her look into hers just after the Endless Night. Sometimes, Reimu would visit Patchouli to use her telescope that she used to study astronomy, one of the few fields where magic and science intersected. But this telescope was many orders stronger than either of those, and could even cut through the clouds to see into space. Looking around in the grey abyss, Reimu caught sight of brown dots, dancing around in the sky much like floaters in one's eyes. Rotom told her that these were Minior, a rare type of Pokemon that lived in the sky above certain areas of the world. They lived high in the sky where they fed on rock particles in order to grow their tough shells. Sometimes, they came down to the summits of high peaks, but for the most part they lived out of reach of most trainers. Hence, very few trainers owned one, and it was considered lucky to so much as see one at ground level, much less capture and use it in battles. Rotom recorded Minior's entry within itself, since Reimu had "seen" them.

After messing around with the telescope, the trio made their way to the trial room: a converted storage closet with modern automatic doors and the Island Challenge colors painted on it. The door was usually locked; in order to gain access, one had to hold their Z-ring up to the automated lock in order to make it flash green, which they did, and then walked inside, where they found what looked like a table hooked up to a complex centrifuge and Sophocles in the back tinkering with a control panel.

Sophy sensed their presence and turned around. "Oh, hello there! Wasn't expecting you this fast!" He got up from the floor with a screwdriver still in his hand. "I was just putting the finishing touches on my trial. Like I said, you'll be the first people that get to test it!"

Hau looked at the table, and asked Sophy, "what is this thing?"

"It's for my Charjbugs," Sophy explained, before pressing a button that let seven rectangular bugs out through a mechanical doggy-door. They squirmed around for a bit before getting themselves into formation. "I was thinking, what should I do to make my trial stand out from everyone else's? So I decided, why not just summon the Totem pokemon themselves to fight? So I came up with this thing," he said presenting the centrifuge. "It uses the Charjbugs and lets them emit a bunch of electricity, which attracts the Totem."

Reimu, of course, thought that that was too easy, so she asked, "there must be a trick."

"Er, I guess you could call it that," Sophy said. "I'm gonna ask you seven trivia questions. For each one you get right, I add a Charjbug to the table. If you get a question wrong, the person that got it wrong has to beat a Charjbug, and if you win I heal it and put it on the table. Once all seven are in place, I'll switch the centrifuge on, and if I got everything right, it should summon the Totem pokemon!"

Hau pounded his fists together. "Well, let's get started then!"

"...okay," Sophy said as he nervously produced seven notecards. "Alright, if you're ready, here's the first question. What type is immune to Electric?"

Reimu went first. "Isn't it Ground?"

"Correct!" Sohpy told her. This prompted a Charjbug to climb up onto the table and assume a position on it. "Okay, next question. Oh, by the way, once you answer a question, you can't answer another until everyone else has had a turn. So, Reimu, you can't buzz in until Hau and Lillie have answered questions."

"Fair enough," Reimu replied crossing her arms.

"Okay, next question. Only one Pokemon family learns Volt Tackle. Which is it?"

Hau raised his hand excitedly while Raichu swirled around him. "I know this one! Pikachu!"

"That's right!" Sophy called out. Another Charjbug added to the table. "Okay Lillie, this one's yours: on what day did Reimu fall out of the sky and into Alola?"

Reimu choked up, "wait, huh? Why is this a question?"

Lillie thought for a moment, then answered, "Um, I want to say Saturday, June 24th?"

Sophy looked at his smartphone calendar very quick to verify, then said, "correct!" A third Chajbug crawled up onto the table; the first two lined up end-to-end, but this one settled in diagonally from the second.

Sophy flipped up his fourth notecard. "Alright, fourth question! True or False: there are Pokemon who have no weaknesses."

Reimu thought about this one: no type on its own had no weaknesses, and even if you took dual-types into account, there were no combinations with no weaknesses either. So she answered, "False. There aren't any typings without-"

Sohpy hit the buzzer. "Nope! Wrong!"

Reimu, caught by surprise, stammered "...but…"

"Let me show you!" he said tossing up a Pokeball, out of which emerged an Eelektross. "This is Eelektross. See how it floats off the ground? That's because it's got Levitate. It just flies over Ground attacks, and since it's pure Electric, it's not weak to anything else, so it has no weaknesses. Eeley over here actually got me through many trials; I don't think I would have completed my Island Challenge without him." He recalled Eeley and told Reimu, "since you got the question wrong, you have to fight this Charjbug, and if you win it will climb up onto the table." So it crawled up, ready to fight, and Reimu on instinct sent out Sasha.

Looking up, Charjbug was met with a huge, hulking, and very irritated wrestler bara kitty, steam coming out of his nostrils, eyes glaring, and belt flaring as he prepared himself to squash this little bug.

The Charjbug "noped" out and scrambled onto the table and took its position. When Sasha glared at the others, they freaked out as well and crawled onto the table, forming a "Z" on the table and activating a light, indicating it was now ready to summon the Totem Pokemon.

Sophy looked at them, then back up at the group and said, "huh. Well, I guess I'll have to think of something else next time so that that doesn't happen." Everyone shared a light chuckle before he went over and flipped on the turbines, activating the machine and sending a course of electricity between the bugs, and somehow it was even triggering a slight totem aura to envelop them.

"This will summon the Totem Pokemon?" Lillie asked.

"I don't actually know," Sohpy told her messing around with a control panel. "I ran some simulations and they worked out there, but I haven't done a test for real just yet. I was meaning to do it later, but you guys came up so fast that I-"

Suddenly, a figure broke through the glass window. At first, they all thought that this was the Totem Pokemon, but it was when it floated above the Charjbugs with its wings furled that Reimu realized what they were facing.

"Watch out!" she called out. That's when, flinging its wings open and roaring forcefully, that the Sphere Doomer sucked all the electricity from the room, causing the turbines to blow up and all the Charjbugs to faint, before it left and the whole observatory lost power.

Without a second thought, the four clambered out the broken window, where they attempted to chase the Sphere Doomer and pin it down, but it was no use: it flew down the side of the mountain toward the Blush Mountain power plant.

Sophocles was horrified. "No, no, we can't get it… we have to stop it!"

"What's down there?" Reimu asked, before Lillie grabbed her by the collar and shook her while screaming manically, "THAT'S A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT! If it overloads the reactor core, this whole island is going up in radioactive smoke!"

Reimu, having dealt with a near nuclear disaster herself, realized the urgency of the situation, and reached for her Poke Ride device to try and summon Charizard to give chase, only to realize…

"...damn it! I forgot they disabled Charizard!" She angrily shoved it back into her bag before shouting, "well then how are we supposed to chase it?! It'll take _hours _for us to get there, and we don't have hours! We have, _maybe _, minutes! Isn't there some other way for us to quickly get down there so that it doesn't-"

They all heard a shriek coming from behind them, prompting them to turn around and face yet another Sphere Doomer, a white one, charging straight at them. They each instinctively reached for their Poke Balls, before the Doomer stopped suddenly and unleashed a powerful gusting wind from under its wings.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl, as the four were swept up off their feet, into the air, and sent plunging down the ravine.

Reimu was used to falling. It sometimes happened whenever she flew through the sky but wasn't focusing, often because she was lost in thought. Usually, she could refocus quickly enough to avoid falling to her death.

This time, she could not catch herself, no matter how much she focused. All she could do was tumble through the air as fast as the Golem rolling down the mountainside near her.

The wind was so loud she could hardly hear what the others had to say. She could see Hedwig struggle to break Hau's fall; Decidueye just could not dive that fast, since they never evolved to need to. Reimu realized that neither her nor Lillie owned a flier. Both of them were screwed, barring something at the bottom which could break their fall - and even then, they were tumbling thousands of meters, so impact with anything was likely to be lethal.

Thoughts flashed through her head: how she was going to die here, never see home again, and how the perpetrator was going to finish their plot without her ever finding out. And not only that, but Hau and Lillie would perish as well, before their lives could even really begin.

Reimu was caught up enough in her thoughts, that she hardly noticed Sanae escaping her Poke Ball, and float in the air just above her. Under extreme duress but determined to save her master, she began to change. In a flash of light, she evolved into a larger form with wings on her back, then flew down to Reimu and poked her.

Reimu looked up, and saw something that resembled Sylveon but with more subdued and periwinkle fur, with a pair of wings and also ears that functioned as wings: one of the rare Eeveelutions that Matilda was describing to her back at Aether Paradise, Aerlion. Reimu connected the dots and realized that this was Sanae, who evolved in order to try and save her.

Oh, how ironic, she thought, how a Pokemon named after her rival was now trying to save her life.

Reimu reached up, and Sanae tried her best to hold her up with all four feet, which slowed her fall, but not enough to guarantee that the impact wasn't going to kill. Still, Reimu felt, she might just have a chance, so she did her best to try and steer toward a patch of grass or pool of water that she could use to try and soften the impact.

_*thump*_

Reimu shook herself from the shock of suddenly landing on something in midair long enough to realize that she was on the back of a Charizard, being steered by Elio.

"You okay?" he turned around to ask her.

It took a moment for Reimu to come down from the adrenaline high and catch her breath from being saved before she could answer, "...yeah, I'm okay." Sanae, who had perched herself just behind Reimu, was wagging her tail and panting like a dog. Just above them, they could hear the mighty bellow of a Salamence, swooping down with Lillie, Hau and Sophocles on its back, closely tailed by the Dragonite Elio had sent out to catch them.

Reimu pointed down at the power plant. "There. We have to get there immediately, no time to waste." So Elio steered Alduin down toward the power plant, and the other dragons followed his lead.

* * *

They landed near the power plant's courtyard. Once Salamence touched down and let the other three off, it was clear that both boys were upset and starting to cry, with Lillie doing her best to try and console them.

"Hau, Sophy," she said softly while gently squeezing them. Hau buried his face into her while Sophocles tried to steady himself, to no avail. It didn't help that Lillie herself was badly shaken. It was a big scare for all of them, but it was all too apparent to Reimu that, in spite of his spunk and spirit, Hau was still a boy, and children in that situation were easily traumatized.

Reimu tried her best to shake off nearly dying before turning around to Elio. "Hey, thanks. Thanks for saving my life." She looked down. "But… how did you…"

"I saw you on the news, after you crushed that ski slope, and I was just coming to congratulate you when I saw all of you falling."

Reimu… wasn't sure what to think at that moment. That her fame had apparently saved them, not to mention how Elio apparently had enough of a thing for her to drop everything and brave this blizzard to congratulate her.

All of them, though, were jolted from their present emotions by an electrical burst just above the power plant, which raised the hairs on all of their bodies.

"Look!" Hau said pointing at the plant. The Sphere Doomer rose above it, bursting with energy and spreading its wings several meters wide, all with a sinister grin on its face. Each of them wasted no time facing it with their signature Pokemon. Hedwig, Sasha and Adele took formation, each beckoning the energy monster. And after letting loose a dastardly cackle, it charged them, spinning in the air whilst bursting with electrical energy.

And then it was knocked out of the air by a random Golem which had launched off a rock. The Doomer was sent careening through the air, before landing face-first on the ground. It struggled to get back up.

"Look," Reimu said pointing her gohei at it. "It's weak. Let's move in and finish it off." Lillie nodded, and instructed Adele to use Ice Beam. But before she could, a loud cry came from the mountainside above. Everyone looked up, and saw a yellow blur rocket down toward the ground where they were - Zeraora.

Zeraora slammed its fists onto the ground, causing a light quake which almost knocked the group over, before standing up and beating its chest while roaring - although it had a rather high voice for something so large. It then grabbed ahold of the weakened Doomer and began draining its energy, causing the Doomer to writhe in pain as it began to dissipate, revealing the Electrium-Z hidden within its body. As this happened, Zeraora began brimming with electricity, and a Totem Aura slowly built. Finally, what was left of the Doomer exploded right at the peak of the aura buildup. Zeraora caught the Electrium-Z for itself, before assuming a battle stance and gesturing the crew to "bring it" with a stern smirk.

It took them a moment to process this, before Reimu said in a breath, "that's the Totem Pokemon."

It was, truly, one of the most intimidating things she had seen up to this point. It stood taller than her, had huge fists, and unlike the other Totems or even Gyarados, it could move around lighting fast and strike just as hard. Reimu knew that, without the ability to exploit a weakness, defeating this thing would be a chore.

She felt someone grab her hand. It was Hau.

"Hey, Reimu," he said. "Let's take it down together."

Reimu felt someone grab her other hand. It was Lillie.

"...together?"

Reimu clenched both of their hands, and then smiled. "Lets." And with that, their starters took off to attack the Totem.

It soon became obvious, however, that this Pokemon was in a vastly different league from everything they had faced up to this point. Fast as a bullet train, nimble as a flea, hard-hitting as a dump truck, and crafty as the Devil himself (herself?), Zeraora stymied all their normal strategies. For one, it gave the infamously overpowered Adele a run for her money, Sasha was too slow to keep up with its movements, and it was evading Hedwig's quill arrows, seemingly zig-zagging and dodging in midair to foil Hedwig's led shots. Meanwhile, it managed to get potshots in here and there, Thunder Punching the starters when the opportunity arose and occasionally mixing it up with Dual Chop.

Each of the three even tried mixing up their active Pokemon, hoping one of them could exploit a weakness. But again, they were outmatched as Zeraora managed to punch out Haunter, Raichu, and even Gyarados, all while barely sustaining any wear.

Reimu gritted her teeth. No way she was going to let this animal defeat her and her allies, human and Pokemon. She could tell Hau and Lillie were getting frustrated as well. Nothing they did seemed to be working.

"What do we do?" Hau asked in a panic. Lillie, being the observant person she was, looked at Zeraora, and how it was brimming with electricity. All the power from the Sphere Doomer was coursing through its body, as if the Pokemon itself were a battery, supercharged by the Z-Crystal and the Doomer's power…

"I have an idea," she said.

The other two looked at her. "What's the plan?" Reimu asked.

"It's being powered by electricity from the Sphere Doomer," she said. "If we can depower it somehow, it's become weaker and we can strike it."

"But how can we do that?" Reimu asked. Then, she thought back to how Magnemite absorbed ambient electricity back when it fought Gyarados, and how that caused it to evolve into Magneton. Perhaps she could do something similar?

"I know what we need to do," Reimu said snapping her fingers. "Back when I fought and caught Gyarados, my Magnemite absorbed a lighting bolt to evolve. I could use Magneton to suck all the electiricty out of the Totem Pokemon." She looked at Zeraora, looked back and said "but I'm going to need a distraction."

Lillie and Hau thought about who they should send out as this "distraction," which had to be Pokemon who could keep Zeraora busy long enough for Magneton to do its thing. Lillie was considering testing out Salamence's power at that moment, when one of her Pokeballs began to rattle.

"Hm?" she said, looking down at her bag. She thought it might be Nebby trying to get out of the bag again, only for Snowy to pop out, then crawl into her bag and, after some shuffling around, took the Ice Stone out of her bag with her mouth and began to run toward Zeraora. At the same time, Hau's Growlithe did something similar, grabbing a Fire Stone out of his bag and running toward the Totem.

"Snowy!" Lillie called and reached out.

"Growlithe!" Hau cried similarly. But the Pokemon were set and determined to take this beast on, activating the stones within seconds and glowing, and then changing.

Seeing more challengers approaching it, Zeraora reared back and began charging plasma in its fists, intending to strike the ground and shock everything around it. But just before it could, a flurry of hits pelted it and caused to to flinch. As it looked back up, it was met by the sight of the newly evolved Arcanine, standing steadfastly and growling and glaring menacingly.

"Nice Extreme Speed!" Hau said jumping up and down. "Attack it again!" And on its master's command, Arcanine lunged once again at Zeraora, the two of them clashing, fire and lighting, a pair of energy forces one against the other.

Add to that ice, as a beam of ice-cold energy struck Zeraora from behind, freezing its right foot into the ground. It turned its head, and saw the graceful but intimidating sight of Alolan Ninetales, an icy spirit against the backdrop of snow and ice, blending in just like a ninja.

Zeraora broke its icy shackle and started attacking the two at once, swinging its arms around and yelling, hitting both dog and fox and sending them back, only for them to get up and try again. Zeraora's movements, still very quick, were too daunting for them to match despite the element of surprise.

But that wasn't their purpose. Just as Zeraora grabbed Snowy and moved to finish her off, a massive jolt hit it - the jolt of having electricity sapped right out of it.

The plan worked. Magneton began absorbing Zeraora's electricity, while at the same time reacting to an ambient magnetic field being cast off the power plant. Within moments, all of Zeraora's power had been drained and Magneton reached critical mass, casting a blinding white glow that made everyone, even Zeraora, look away and wince. When everything was settled and everyone regained focus, Magneton wasn't a Magneton anymore. UFO-like and looking more like one head, with one red eye, and nodes with eyes rather than three units, it was a full-fledged Magnezone.

Without its electricity to power it up, Zeraora couldn't use electric attacks and its movements were slower than before. Zeraora, still determined not to lose in spite of this, rushed Magnezone hoping to pummel it with its bare hands, but was intercepted with a Tri-Attack, causing it to tumble in place and fall back. It tried again, only to get hit with a Flash Cannon to much the same result.

Zeraora struggled to peel itself back off the ground before being assaulted once more by Snowy and Arcanine, the former hitting it with Dazzling Gleam and the latter with Outrage, all before Zeraora could mount a counterattack. Once more, it collapsed to the ground. It was battered, and its aura began to falter, but Zeraora was determined to still win. Weakly, it managed to hoist its head up, but saw one last figure.

It was Sasha.

He was surrounded in Z-Power.

Before Zeraora could process this, Sasha rushed down, jumped up on a rock pinnacle, then leaped high into the air while spreading out and roaring, slamming into Zeraora with a Malicious Moonslaught whose force was in the gigatons and actually caused the power station to short out for a few seconds before regaining operation. After that, Zeraora, now pressed a meter face-first into the ground, only managed to weakly raised its paw before dropping it, signifying victory for the trio.

* * *

After recalling all their Pokemon, everyone approached Zeraora. Even though it was their opponent, Reimu hoped that Sasha's attack didn't hurt it too much.

"THAT was intense," she remarked. Never before had she been challenged so much that she needed help against one Pokemon, and she likely would have lost without Lillie and Hau's backup. It still didn't stand up to many of Gensokyo's toughest fighters, but it was certainly no slouch.

She turned to Sophocles, who had apparently caught the whole thing on his phone. "Is this your Totem Pokemon?"

Realising she was addressing him, he looked up and said "...yeah. Yeah it is." He tossed a revive at Zeraora, then said to the group, "I first came across it on Mt. Lanakila on my way home from completing my Island Challenge. When I looked it up and saw it was an extremely rare but powerful species, I knew what my Totem Pokemon was going to be after I took over for Big 'Mo. The centrifuge up at the observatory was supposed to draw it out from hiding, and challengers would fight it out back." At this moment, Zeraora managed to get back up and stand behind Sophy. "But, eh, I guess it went a little crazy from all the power it absorbed from that… thing. It wasn't that aggressive or powerful in tests."

"That's real life for you," Reimu smirked. "You can run all the simulations and tests you want, but fate is a mistress with a twisted sense of humor. Where I come from, a lot of people just throw strategy aside and roll with the flow. Those that don't, well, they say 'screw it' really quickly and do that too anyway. Every fight is something new, and it's impossible to tell how it will go down, so you have to be on your toes constantly. And in some cases, you just have to expect the unexpected."

"I guess so," Sohpocles said kicking lightly. Zeraora approached the group, but rather than engage them again, it bowed, barked, and then held out its hand, revealing three Electrium-Z's.

"Looks like it respects you now," Sophy commented. Reimu, Lillie and Hau each took their respective Z-Crystals, and when they did, Zeraora cried out again before dashing back up the crags to its home.

Just after Zeraora left, a scientist came out of the power plant to meet the group. "What's going on out here?" he asked them.

Reimu responded to him, "taking care of business. We just offed the thing that was threatening you power plant."

Expectedly, the scientist was taken aback. "R-Reimu? Reimu Hakurei? And… Lillie and Hau too?" He started to fanboy on them. "I… I've been watching you three since you became famous! Just now I watched you on TV for your ski record!"  
Reimu rolled her eyes again. Again, she thought about how she struggled to be popular in her own home, only to come here, gain a bunch of money in a short time and have her face all over the papers. She digressed, though, and said to him, "yeah, that's me."

"Why do you get all the attention?" Hau pouted. "We worked together to bring down Zeraora!"

"Well then maybe you should get flung through your own Ultra Wormhole," Reimu smartly joked. Lillie couldn't help but laugh, as did Elio. Sophocles just stood there awkwardly.

They turned toward the scientist again. "Zeraora eliminated the Sphere Doomer, then we fought Zeraora for its Z-Crystal."

"Sphere Doomer… ah, that being that was attacking the power plant and causing the outages!" He reached into his case and handed them each Nuggets. "You have my gratitude. It was absorbing power from the plant. We had to shut down all the nuclear reactors and step up our solar, thermal and wind power to keep it from going critical, but it kept interfering with those and adding stress, causing blackouts. Without you, we would have been in a lot of trouble." As he said that, the hum of the power generators kicked back up behind him. "All systems back online, operation normal," a computerized female voice said.

"Looks like power generation is back to normal," the scientist said to them. "I'm sure the cold residents of this island will be grateful."

"Cold…" Reimu pondered. Then, she said, "well, we solved the power problem, but we still have this blizzard to deal with. And I'm fairly certain I know what's causing it."

"What's that?" Lillie asked.

"The thing that almost killed us, of course. The other Sphere Doomer." Each one of them hesitated, then shivered. The fact that they almost fell to their deaths because of the Sphere Doomer still shook them in a PTSD-like way, and Hau almost began to tear up again.

Salamence roared behind Lillie, making her jump.

"Gah!" she exclaimed, before Salamence, a big, intimidating dragon, came up to her and began demanding headpats, which Lillie provided.

"I… I never thought that you would evolve into such a big strong dragon so soon, just to save me!" She glomped Salamence, who almost literally purred as she loved him.

Reimu turned to Elio. "And you too. I'm thankful. You saved my life, and I'm in your debt for that." She reached out and shook his hand.

"I appriciate it," he replied. Reimu smiled, just slightly.

She then turned her attention to Salamence, and thought about all their Pokemon that had evolved in order to better help them.

"We had a lot of evolutions today, it seems," she commented.

"Yeah!" Hau smiled. "My Arcanine, Salamence, Snowy, Magnezone and… is that Sanae?"

"Uh, yeah," Reimu answered, looking behind her and seeing Sanae hover in the air behind her. Rotom was on top of the Dex entry:

_Aerilion, the Gale Pokemon. A rare evolution of Eevee found in mountainous environments, it rides wind currents using its two pairs of wings at speeds exceeding mach 3. It can unleash devestating Air Slash attacks and twisters to defend itself._

A fitting evolution for something named for a wind priestess, Reimu felt.

"She looks cool!" Hau complimented. "And Snowy, too! She's literally cool!"

"Yes, indeed," Reimu remarked. "An icy fox, the fusion of the Kitsune and Yuki-Onna of Japanese legend. Blending into the blizzard, gracefully tiptoeing through the snow, a beautiful form with a piercing gaze and a playful but mischievous attitude, like a ghost in the-"

"_ WHO'S GOT THE RUBBY BELLY _?" Lillie exclaimed in the baby-talk voice again as Snowy was flipped over and her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth, before Lillie face-planted into Snowy's belly.

"...or maybe it's just a dog after all," Reimu shrugged.


	33. Glutton

"Alright," the rabbit commander said on the radio. "The target's trajectory is still straight. Set up the energy barrier."

"Copy, commander," one of the captains said. As instructed, two large, metal pillars were hoisted into place, and within seconds an orange wall of magical energy was being generated in between them. Just to test it, one of the rabbit soldiers drew a heavy blaster pistol and shot it, to no effect.

"Okay," he sighed. "Hopefully, this should be enough to stop it."

"Are you sure?" his partner asked him. "It's torn through several solid steel walls with no effort."

"This wall is infinitely tougher than any steel," he boasted. "And the monster's path is completely straight, so we just need to make it run into this wall and then contain it with the energy ropes…"

"GET OUT OF THE WAY EVERYONE!" someone shouted. The two soldiers looked up, and to their horror, saw a high-rise toppling down right toward them. The female soldier managed to get out of the way, but the male soldier was crushed, and the metal pillars knocked out, along with the energy barrier.

"LEN!" she cried out in horror. Tearfully, she got on her radio and informed command that her comrade had fallen, before turning her attention to the fallen, flaming building. She couldn't see it, but she could hear the sound of floors and walls being torn and crumpled. As it got closer, the ground beneath her began to quake, and the beast's mighty bellows started to get deafening. Nervously, she got out her heavy blaster pistol, and shakily pointed it at the building's facade.

Seconds later, two bangs against the inside of the building could be heard, before exploding into shrapnel, glass and concrete. Dust kicked up into the air, forcing the soldier to cover her eyes and causing her to break into a coughing fit. As she regained her composure and the dust cleared, she saw it.

She didn't want to see it.

This monster - no, abomination, she thought - was unlike any she had ever witnessed in her long career. It was huge, with a thick black hide and a rotund physique with stubby little feet and arms emerging from it. Its most prominent feature, however, was its mouth. The mouth was far too big, large enough to swallow a small bus whole, lined with a vicious row of orange "teeth" - although they could be the "lips," she thought. Out of the bottom of the mouth sprung two tentacle-like feelers, each with its own mouth at the end, busily slurping up food to the side of the monster - food that included rubble, debris, even rabbit soldier and Lunarian civilian corpses. Really, anything that was solid matter, this thing considered food, all of which was chucked into a sky-blue abyss inside its gaping maw, seemingly into a second mouth in the back. Above the mouth were the creature's eyes, although there seemed to be a second set on a crown-like structure on top, indicating that was the head and the mouth was on its _belly _. All this made for a truly terrifying sight, one which bellowed and roared like Godzilla. Finally, surrounding it was an odd, reddish-orange aura, which the soldier guessed was the source of its power to withstand everything thrown at it.

She drew her pistol and began firing. Heavy pistols like hers were powerful enough to burn through steel doors, but the shots had zero effect on the monster, which barely even noticed them as it continued its path of destruction, lifting up and then eating an entire eel cart before tearing through and ravaging a fountain garden.

* * *

From their perch within their mansion on top of a hill overlooking the Lunar Capital, two sisters witnessed the destruction and the line of smoke and fire tearing through downtown.

"Time to get to work?" Toyohime asked, grabbing her fan.

"Yes, let's," Yorihime calmly replied, grabbing a sword before charging out the door.

They were the Watatsuki sisters, and they were among the most powerful beings in the Lunar Capital and the captains of the Lunar Defense Corp. Their power and level of training was such that not even Reimu Hakurei was any match for them. In fact, they could probably tank a direct hit from the Tsar Bomba without flinching, thanks to Toyohime's extreme good fortune abilities that made Tewi seem like Luigi in comparison, and Yorihime's unmatched god-channeling power. So when they got desprate radio calls from the rabbit commandos about a monster ripping through the town and saw high-rises toppling over, they made no bones about acting quickly to quash this threat.

Both of them were war-hardened soldiers used to seeing and hearing things no one ever should, but they were both still taken aback by the alien horror that met their eyes once they got to within striking range.

"Look at it," Toyohime trailed off. "It's unlike anything I've ever seen."

"That doesn't matter right now," Yorihime said snappily. "First, try sending it to the scientific moon. I don't want to cause any collateral damage if I can help it."

"Alright," Toyohime copied. Toyohime was responsible for maintaining the barrier between the fantastical moon of the Lunar Capital and the "regular," airless moon. This way, she could banish and kill intruders without firing any shots. However, when she actually tried it with the monster, she found herself continuously hitting mental blocks.

"...ugh, I can't do it," she grunted.

"Do what now?" Yorihime asked.

"I can't do it. It's resisting being sent to the scientific moon."

"Resisting?" Yorihime asked again, quizzically.

"Something is anchoring it to our false moon reality, and I can't send it outside." She got out her fan. "Looks like we'll have to take it out by force." Toyohime's fan was like no other: with a single swing, it could "purify" an entire forest into atomic dust. By concetrating the power onto the monster, she hoped to erase it from existence completely. A swing of the fan was all it took for fierce, cutting winds to slice, dice, and ravage the creature… all without leaving so much as a slight scratch, as it essentially ignored the attack and continuted its gluttonous rampage.

"Wha- HUH?" Toyohime exclaimed, flabbergasted by the attacks failure. She even tried another shot, but it too failed, as it simply bounced off the monster's hide.

She slumped, and turned to her sister. "I can't hurt it. You try."

"Hmph," Yorihime grunted crossing her arms. "Well, if this… _thing _, won't accept punishment from my sister, I'll just have to teach it a painful lesson myself." Yorihime might have been the younger sister, but she was by far the more powerful one, too: skilled in millions of techniques and a swordmaster beyond compare, she was a formidable foe even without her ability to channel gods which made her nigh-untouchable. She could soundly trounch Gensokyo's best, Yukari included, so she was not about to let an animal beat her.

First, she took a swing at it with her sword, but the sword snapped in half against the monster's hide. She then tried various other techniques and weapons against it, but none of them worked and it just barged along without a care.

Finally, the time came for her to pull out the big guns. "It's come to this," she hissed. "Surely a god's power can put this fiend down." She began to focus as she wondered which god's power would be best to borrow, but in doing so felt a godly aura around the creature itself.

"What is it?" Toyohime asked her.

"The monster… has a god's aura protecting it," Yorihime answered.

"You mean the monster is a god?"

"No, but it's being shielded by one. A very, very powerful and potentially omnipotent one at that, one far eclipsing the power of any I can channel."

Toyohime slumped again. "For real?"

Yorihime angrily threw a grenade at the monster, which bounced off and exploded in the air. "This is bullshit!" she yelled. "How the hell are we supposed to stop this thing from ripping up the city?!"

Toyohime took a moment to think the situation over, then came to a conclusion. "It's travelling in a straight line."

"Don't tell me what I already know," Yorihime said angrily.

"No, no, hear me out. It's travelling in a straight line instead of just going around wrecking everything. That means it must have a target."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Let's fly up and survey what's in the line of danger," Toyohime suggested. After a bit of hesitation, Yorihime, realizing they had no better option, agreed, so they flew up and traced the path of impending destruction, evacuating anyone in the way as they went. Fortunately, no critical structures, such as the emperor's palace, their own mansion, or the military base and training camp were in the way, nor were there schools along the path. However, one important landmark was in the line of danger: Chang'e's prison.

They stopped above it. "The prison," Toyohime muttered. "Why would it go after the prison?"

Yorihime shouted, "it must be the work of those two shrews again." "Those two shrews," in this case, referring to Junko and Hecatia, who only months prior tried to fill the moon with life-force fairies to chase out the Lunarians in order to get to Chang'e and take revenge on her.

"But… why again so quickly I wonder?"

"Junko isn't a person. She's a being of pure, unfiltered rage and revenge. Of course she wouldn't let it end with just being stopped by Reisen."

"Yes, of course, but… where did they get the creature and the power to shield it?"

"That's not important right now. Right now, we need to be in there warning the guards."

* * *

"It… it's coming here?" one of the guards said apprehensively.

"That is correct," Yorihime told him. "And I already told you that we don't know how to stop it."

"I… I can't believe that, that not even the powerful and mighty Watatsuki Sisters can stop it."

"I'm not saying we CAN'T stop it," Yorihime corrected him, "but we're still trying to figure out how. In any case, you must leave here at once."

"But… but, Chang'e is locked up here, and it's my sworn duty to-"

"I am _ordering _you, from my authority granted to me by the emperor as the head of the Lunar Defense Corp, to get out of here or else you will die," she said forcefully. "You will be of no use guarding Chang'e if you are dead." Already, the ominous trembling of the ground as the monster approached the prison could be sensed, and Yorihime's agitation grew with it. Raising her sword, she cast an energy blast which tore a hole in the wall to the outside. "Now, get out of here."

"Um… alright," the guard said as he motioned to leave. Just as they tried to, however, the monster crashed through the entrance to the prison, where it bellowed a mighty roar before jumping up, then slamming down onto the ground, causing the floor to collapse and with it, causing everyone, including the monster, to fall down into the abyss.

They landed on the hard, concrete floor of Chang'e's underground cell. The monster, uninjured, landed right in front of Chang'e. Everyone else hit the floor hard, causing them to be cut up and bruised among the rubble; Toyohime was bleeding from her mouth, Yorihime's face and hands had cuts and smudges and her dress was torn. The guards were suffering from broken bones, with one also having a gash on the back of his leg.

Wrenching herself up from the ground, Yorihime looked up at the monster, her expression a mix of agitation, dread and apprehension. The monster had them here, cornered, and could now do whatever it wished to them. Given its huge mouth, Yorihime fully expected it to swallow them all whole.

Chang'e herself, who the monster was fixated on, was bound to a cement chair with a bag tied over her head. Chang'e could not see the monster, but could sense its presence. That was all she process, though, as the monster suddenly tore the chair out of the ground and gulped Chang'e right up.

Yorihime could hardly believe what she had just saw. Chang'e, a Hourai immortal unkillable by absolutely all means, had now just been eaten and seemingly killed by this thing.

Yorihime then braced herself: now that the beast had killed an unkillable being, she expected herself, her sister and the guards to be next. If that happened, Yorihime knew, there would be nothing else stopping it from bringing the Lunar Capital to its infernal end. So she started contemplating strange thoughts, about everything she had accomplished in her life and how she failed to uphold her sworn duty to the emperor. Instead, the monster just sat there, as if it were anticipating something.

Silence, for several moments, as she, Toyohime and the guards stared it down. Then, Yorihime picked up a buzzing, electrical noise. Looking up, she saw a subtle distortion in space, which then burst open into a wormhole above and in front of the monster.

After a few moments, something came out of it: a figure resembling a black, crystalline mass with enormous clawed hands and a massive, helmeted head with three spikes. Almost immediately, Yorihime realized that this figure was a god, guessing that it was the one protecting the monster due to having an identical energy signature.

The figure descended slowly in front of the monster, floating for a few moments before gesturing it. The monster then opened up its mouth, stretching back so wide that it actually opened up to a 180 degree angle, its back down to the ground. It was exceptionally creepy to watch, and one of the most surreal things Yorihime had ever witnessed. Yorihime had no words, other than a light gasp as her jaw lie agape.

The figure then held out its hands, as a white ball of energy emerged from the monster's mouth. The figure absorbed this energy for several minutes, blue streams running from the monster's mouth and the ball into the figure's hands, which began to glow, first a dull yellow, then a brilliant platinum blue. Yorihime realized that this energy was Chang'e's essence, and there was a colossal amount of it given Chang'e's power and status as a Hourai.

But contemplating the figure further, an old but familiar signature hit her like a ton of bricks.

"...no…" she said lowly, horrified.

The process took a few minutes. Near the end, the monster's aura began to falter before ultimately fading out as it was re-absorbed back into the figure. By the end, the figure's hands glowed blue-white up to its wrists. After the creature got itself back into shape, the figure raised its hand, causing a white flash that made Yorihime flinch. When it died down, the sisters, the guards, the figure and the monster were suddenly outside the prison. What was more, their wounds were all gone and the damage to the prison was repaired. The figure then summoned another wormhole, tossing the monster into it before flying in itself, closing the wormhole behind it.

The four, disoriented and confused but thankful to still be alive, looked at each other.

"What… was that?" Toyohime pondered.

"Look!" one of the guards said, suddenly, jumping onto his feet and pointing at the city. They all looked, and were amazed: the fires were put out, the damage to the city repaired, and presumably all those where were killed were restored.

Yorihime looked out at the city. "Amazing," she said. "It repaired all the damage the monster did." She turned around to Toyohime. "But, Chang'e is still gone."

Toyohime asked her sister, "what do you think that thing was? The black mass, I mean?"

Yorihime thought, then said, "a god. It was a very, very powerful god."

Toyohime hummed, then asked again, "how powerful, do you think? Obviously, it restored the city, so very powerful?"

Yorihime looked up at her. "Powerful enough to kill an immortal. Also, so strong that its power can be compared only to one thing."

"What's that?"

Yorihime hesitated to answer, since the thought of it still haunted her greatly. Tersely, she replied, "... the Photon Geyser."

Toyohime's face went white.

"No," she said. "No. No no no no, nonononononono!" She gripped her face and collapsed to the ground. "Don't tell me!"

"Excuse me," one of the guards asked, "but Photon what now?"

Yorihime shot him a light glare. "Oh. You must not have been born early enough to see the First Lunar War, were you?"

"Er, no," the guard said.

Yorihime helped her sister off the ground, but Toyohime struggled to regain her composure. "That means the efforts in scrubbing memory of the Photon Geyser were successful." She paused again. "But in light of what has happened, perhaps I should enlighten you about it, but be warned, it will deeply affect you."

She took a deep breath, then started, "the Photon Geyser was a weapon developed by the Lunar Military shortly before Yukari's attempted invasion of the moon. It was envisioned as the ultimate weapon, one which possessed the power of gods as wielded by devils. It was powered by light, on all wavelengths, absorbing all the light in an area and leaving it in complete blackness before unleashing a blinding ball of energy to vaporize its target. A fully-charged attack could take out all of Japan in just a single shot."

"The weapon's very existence was deeply divisive. Eirin Yagokoro, the renegade co-founder of the Lunar Capital, vehemently opposed it as did we, and tried several times to cancel the project. But the top brass at the time insisted that it was for the benefit of the Lunar Capital, so they continued ahead with developing it."

"The weapon was only fired once, after the youkai invasion was beaten back. The top general wanted to test fire the weapon at full power to punish the youkai for their crime, taking advantage of public outrage over the attempted invasion in spite of the horrible damage everyone knew it would cause. Once she got the news that the firing had been approved by the Emperor, Eirin took Kaguya and forced her to drink the Hourai Elixir before consuming it herself and burning her research and development notes. She committed such a crime because she thought that, after everything had settled, her and Kaguya would be the only ones left alive."

"The weapon took only a minute or so to charge. It pulled all the light off the surface of the Earth; to this day, there are still stories of a sudden eclipse and flash of light in many cultures, occuring at the same time. Finally, it fired the ball of light, which was as large as a heavy cruiser, locked onto Gensokyo. That was when Yukari's winged guardian intervened to stop it and prevent Japan's total destruction. It collided with the light ball, unleashing a huge blowback and explosion which shot back out into space. Those on the ground were blinded by the sky lighting itself on fire, but they were the lucky ones. Lunar forces in the sky and space above Gensokyo were completely atomized, and here in the Capital, light cleansed all that it touched, cooking exposed people alive, setting metal buildings on fire, melting solid rock. By the end of it, the Lunar Capital was annihilated, and the remains resembled a war zone, with burned out buildings and charred corpses everywhere."

Yorihime looked down and shook her head. "If you've ever wondered why there are few Lunarians and rabbits older than a thousand even though we can live far longer, that is why."

The guards were stunned and speechless.

Yorihime continued, "afterward, Yukari came back to the Capital completely distraught, and apologized for everything that had happened. We explained to her that, in spite of her attempted invasion, we were even more irresponsible for unleashing such a terrible weapon. She and the Emperor signed a non-interaction treaty, ensuring that youkai and Lunarian would never meddle in the other's affairs again. I destroyed the weapon on the Emperor's orders, and it took about thirty years to completely rebuild the city and restore life to something resembling what it had been before. But the scars would stay with us all forever. Shortly afterward, we discovered that Eirin and Kaguya were missing; we later realized that they went down to the surface to get away from us, and took the Hourai Elixir with them to ensure that we wouldn't want them back."

"...that's… wow," the guard said. "I had no idea."

"That is why we don't talk about it," Yorihime told him. "It was the single darkest moment in all of Lunar history."

The guard shuffled around a bit, then asked her, "what does that have to do with this monster and that… thing?"

Yorihime hesitated for a moment, before answering, "I don't know about the monster, other than that it was serving the god. But that god had the same energy signature as the Photon Geyser weapon. I fear that this god might be a manifestation of the weapon's power. How it got that power after a thousand years, I have no clue. But it has that power now, and now it is gathering even more."

"But why did it destroy the city and then restore it?" the guard asked.

"...I don't know for sure, but I have a theory. It must be a new god, unsure of its place in the world and testing the extent of its power. Gods like that, those who are young and don't tilt highly toward law or chaos, light or dark, good or evil, are among the most dangerous there are - simply because you don't know how they will swing in the end. This god has demonstrated its strength by restoring lives and the city in a flash, absorbing a Hourai Immortal goddess, and creating inter-spacial portals. And as I already said, its power eclipses that of all the gods I can summon, gods who have fully developed their awesome potential whereas this one is likely not anywhere near its maximum capability. Indeed, it gave off an impression of being incomplete as well. The only beings I can think of off the top of my head that match or exceed it are Yaldabaoth, YHWH, and… the Gensokyo Great Dragon. And its full power could trump those as well."

The guards were visibly shaking.

"So," the one guard said, "what you're saying is that a prismatic god, which might be a manifestation of an ultimate weapon of genocide and with the power to completely reshape everything we know, is at large."

"Unfortunately, yes," Yorihime affirmed, "and at this time we can do little to nothing to stop it."

Toyohime huffed, then asked her sister, "well then, what are we going to do now?"

"I will request an audience with the Emperor as soon as possible to tell him about this threat," Yorihime replied. "I will then convene the rest of the Lunar Defense Corp to brief them on it."

She was silent for several moments before continuing.

"But aside from that, I simply do not know."


	34. The Ice Desert

White.

That's all that could be seen all around by the naked eye. Thick snow on the ground blanketed the landscape, covering the shifting sands and rock spires and canyons that normally defined the Haina Desert. Snow flurried hard, cutting visibility such that seeing very far was impossible. And because most the desert-dwelling Pokemon were not used to such conditions, most retreated to caves to try and ride out the unusual storm, while those which usually made their homes further up on the mountain such as Sneasel and Alolan Sandslash trekked across the landscape in their stead.

And yet, even this inhospitable environment was not enough to deter three determined humans, cruising along the snow atop a pair of skis, their faces concealed by masks and goggles to protect against the biting, icy wind, so the only way to tell them apart was by Reimu and Lillie's hair sticking out from under their hats, or in Hau's case his notable shorter height compared to them.

The three of them arrived at an alcove nestled between several high-reaching basalt faces with a single pillar in the center of it all.

"Another dead end," Reimu gruffed. "This place is like a maze."

"It really is," Lillie commented. "In school, they taught us about how the Haina desert was home to complex rock systems which turn the place into a natural labyrinth. They think that's why Tapu Bulu chooses to isolate itself here, because of how hard it is to reach from the ground."

"Yeah, the ground." Flying would really come in handy at this point, Reimu mused, but even if they could use Charizard or even if she could still fly on her own, given the weather she probably wouldn't want to anyway just because of how hazardous it was to fly in a raging snowstorm such as this. There had been cases in Gensokyo of fairies literally freezing solid in midair and falling down to earth because of how cold it was, so Reimu certainly was aware of the risks and how to avoid them.

They approached the pillar in the center of the alcove to see if they could use it to get their bearings, when Hau noticed something.

"This thing has Z-crystals in it," he called out.

The two girls got around the pillar to take a look, and indeed, stashed inside was a load of Psychium-Zs. It seemed strange, Reimu thought. She hadn't been informed of any trials in the desert, and there didn't seem to be a corresponding Totem Pokemon in sight.

"There must be a trick," she said aloud. "There's no way somebody just left a stash of Z-Crystals in the middle of the desert with nothing guarding them. I just know in my gut the second I swipe one something's gonna come out from over that crag over there and try to tear me and my Pokemon a new one."

Lillie approached the pillar and said, "actually no, I know about this one too since the professor told me about it. Not every type has a trial or grand trial bound to it. Exactly which ones don't have trials changes from time to time, but he told me types like Bug and Poison have not historically been popular types for trial captains to specialize in. Psychic and Ice, however, are special cases. Of course, since Alola is a hot, humid place, there aren't many Ice-types to go around and so most of them live on Mt. Lanakila, which is the final place trial goers challenge, so the Icium-Z has traditionally been kept midway up the mountain in the middle of a maze as a final challenge, and has never been known to have a trial captain or kahuna."

After taking this in, Reimu asked, "what about Psychic?"

Lillie hesitated to answer this one, before replying, "there has only been one Psychic-type Totem Pokemon. Two-hundred years ago, around the time the first settlers from Kanto came to the islands, a kid who recently completed their Island Challenge found an Alakazam who had been exposed to Ultra Radiation and decided to make it their Totem Pokemon. They set up a course for challengers, and all seemed well. However, the first time someone tried to challenge it, when Alakazam's aura flared, it froze up in a paralysis and fell to the ground in a seizure. They took it to a human psychic, who told everyone that Alakazam foresaw a 'terrible incident' involving 'conduits from other realms,' but did not elaborate. Unfortunately, the Alakazam had to be put down afterward, and a law was passed preventing Psychic-type Pokemon from being used as Totem Pokemon ever again to prevent a recurrence. Anyone wishing a Psychium-Z has to come here to obtain one."

Reimu cocked an eyebrow. "Conduits from other realms?"

Lillie answered, "most likely Ultra Wormholes, and it's debated to this day what the Alakazam was foreseeing. Some who know about it think it has to do with the Giratina Incident seven years ago when it opened up a portal to the Distortion World after a madman named Cyrus tried to use Dialga and Palkia to remake the world in his own image, since it can open portals to the Distortion World."

_Thank the gods he didn't succeed _, Reimu thought. That incident seemed completely nuts, since not even anyone in Gensokyo, where loads more magical and divine beings existed, had actually tried to rewrite time and space, even if Cyrus's plan had no chance of working.

"I personally think it could only have been Ultra Wormholes, and so two incidents come to mind. One is the Delta Swarm, which Professor Burnet told me about and it sounds like you know about too. Mother when she was sane never told me about how my dad and older sister disappeared, but I've come to suspect it was into an Ultra Wormhole, since it happened just before I was born."

It was at this moment that Reimu seized on the opportunity to confirm a hunch she had had since last night. "Did you mother ever tell you their names?"

"Why?" Lillie asked.

"Oh, just curious," Reimu shrugged, although her face showed her real intentions.

"She never told me directly. I only found out their names because I dug through old photo albums once when I was ten. There was one from when she and dad got married, and someone wrote their names under it, and his name was Mohn Kirisame."

This struck Reimu like lightning.

"What is it?" Lillie asked.

Reimu, very much surprised, answered, "that's the name of the owner of a secondhand shop in the human village back in Gensokyo. I used to go to his place a lot back when I was solving the youma book incident." She shook herself out and continued, "and your sister?"

Lillie answered, "after that, there was a picture of my older brother and sister posing in dresses as toddlers; her name written on the back of it, Marisa."

Reimu snapped her fingers. "That's it."

Lillie, after realizing what Reimu was saying, said, "...you really think…?"

"It can't possibly be a coincidence," Reimu exclaimed. "Mohn and Marisa were people who came to the village from seemingly nowhere fourteen years ago, according to Yukari, and she didn't think they were from the Outside world. Both dodge details of their lives from before then. Based on what you said, I now seriously think my friend Marisa Kirisame and your missing older sister Marisa Kirisame are the same person, and the same goes for your dad."

Lillie was silent. Could Reimu actually be right?

"There's more," Reimu continued. "I've always gotten vibes of her from you. Of course, you're a more proper lady than she'll ever hope to be, but when you drop your timid, proper exterior, you talk and act in a rough way like she does - perhaps it runs in the family. In fact, over the phone, you sound almost exactly like her. The only discrepancy is she has more honey-yellow hair and eyes… usually. But even then, there was one time after I sparred Aya where she dropped some photos as she ran away from her loss. A few of them revealed Marisa styling her hair _to _that honey-yellow style from more platinum locks similar to yours; Aya likely intended to publish an expose in her paper with them. I decided to hide the photos and not think about it too much, since I was helping mediate a dispute between Byakuren and Miko that day, but it stuck in my mind. Lastly, her eyes shift between yellow and piercing green - like yours - on occasion. When I ask her about it, she usually says something about a mushroom that she grows and eats that has that as a side effect from time to time, but I suspect she's lying."

The two stood silent for several moments while they contemplated what Reimu had said.

"...I see," was all Lillie could say. She readjusted herself, then said, "if that's true, then I guess it's ironic that you got dumped off here by an Ultra Wormhole, which is the second incident the Alakazam might have foreseen."

"I guess," Reimu shrugged. "Either way, this incident is starting to get weird, especially if Mohn and Marisa being from here turns out to be true. That means this incident could be at least fourteen years in the making, if not more. We have to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible, because we don't know what's next. At this rate, we could be open to anything from Flandre getting loose in this realm, or something like Primal Kyogre and Groudon ending up in Gensokyo or even the Outside, or even something completely outside the context of either place wreaking havoc. And like I said before, I think Necrozma or something like it is more likely than not responsible. If we can somehow find it, we might be able to stop this incident."

Lillie glanced over at Hau, who was next to his Arcanine playing his Nintendo Switch, Arcanine having melted the snow to reveal the true sandy floor of the desert.

"Can we discuss this another time?" Lillie asked Reimu. "I think someone's getting a little impatient."

Reimu giggled lightly. "Playing mom again, eh? Well, alright, I understand." She looked over at the pillar and - after some hesitation given her hangups regarding Psychic-types - removed a Psychium-Z and placed it in her bag before they took back off toward the Ruins of Abundance.

* * *

It took the trio about another hour to find it, after two wrong turns and Lillie falling head-first in a snow pile at one point, but once Hau pointed out the telltale stone tikis marking the entrance to a Tapu's resting place, they found themselves standing in front of the Ruins of Abundance.

According to legends, as provided by the Rotom-Dex, each Tapu inhabited a temple, built by ancient Alolans in tribute to them. They were called "Ruins" due to having been left to nature over the millennia as opposed to being updated and maintained at all, due to the islander's fear of their tremendous power. Tapu Bulu, the guardian of Ula'Ula Island, had red-arched ruins built into a cave, and an oddly pleasant scent that could only be described as "nature" blew out from the entrance. Oddly, while the ground was snowy, the blizzard was absent in the area directly surrounding the ruins, which they chalked up to the Guardian Deity's power.

Reimu, of course, had faced a number of daunting threats before to the point where few things scared her. Still, the ruins gave off a uniquely intimidating aura, one which struck a chord of her going to face something that had been here far longer than any human, and which wielded the raw, unconstrained force of nature. She wasn't the only one, either: not only did Lillie and Hau have the same trepidation, but Reimu could see a Sneasel hiding behind a rock off to one side, looking over it at them as if it wanted to say "what the hell do you think you're doing? You're going to get killed." But the trio was not going to be fettered. This needed to be done, they needed to enlist the Tapu to end this blizzard. So, taking a deep breath and summoning all their bravado, they stepped in.

Outside, the weather was cold, but the air inside the ruins were damp, clammy and earthy. Moss grew on the walls, and all around, stone idols lined the hallway. The pathway was lit by slits in the walls which let natural light in, as well as mystical torches which never seemed to go out.

The hallway itself was silent, but Reimu could almost hear the chanting of tribesmen in her head. Looking around, carvings on the walls depicted old battles between the warring islands, before coming to a wall at the end of the hall covered in a mural depicting Solgaleo and Lunala, rising above what looked like several little people and four figures, the Tapu.

"What's this? A dead end?" Hau exclaimed in surprise and despair.

"It would seem like it," Reimu said, studying the mural. She looked around. "Maybe we missed a turn somewhere?"

"I didn't see another door or hallway," Lillie said.

The three stood there, puzzled. Here they were at an apparent dead end, with nothing but cave carvings on the wall to show for it. They were just about to turn around when Hau noticed something.

"Hey," he said, "take a look at this." He pointed at something below the mural.

"Hmm?" Reimu hummed. They huddled around what Hau was looking at, and it appeared to be text. Looking at the text, Lillie realized what it was.

"This is ancient Alolan script, just like in that book in the library," she noted.

"I wonder what it says," Reimu wondered. "If only we had some sort of guide…"

"At your serviiiize!" Rotom flew out and instantly switched to a translation app. Scanning the text, Rotom ran it through a computer, and not a moment later had a translated phrase ready for them.

"Still trying to impress me, aren't we?" Reimu snarked. They gathered around Rotom to read the translated text:

"_ Beast of Sunne and Beast of Moone. Under one crown shall the islands unite, to protect against the Beast who Steals the Light. _"

"What does this mean?" Hau asked.

"I don't know…" Reimu trailed off.

Then, it hit her like a dump truck.

"Necrozma."

As she said those words, part of the mural lit up with golden lights. The lights traced a complex array of shapes on the mural, in the space between and above Solgaleo and Lunala. Eventually, they realized it was tracing an image of Necrozma.

"Oh, I get it," Lillie said. "This is some sort of password puzzle."

A few seconds later, the engraving of Necrozma was fully complete, and flashed black and white lights. Another line of golden light split the mural in half, then slowly opened up inward, revealing the inner chamber of the ruins, where Tapu Bulu's resting spot could be found.

Knowing what was ahead of them, they stepped in, and approached the worship pedestal, preparing to face a divine Guardian Deity.

Inside, lay Tapu Bulu…

...sitting on a couch in a "draw me like one of your French girls" fashion, eating Pewter Crunchies and watching Game of Thrones on a plasma TV.

"..." Reimu didn't have any words.

"THIS is Tapu Bulu?!" Hau exclaimed in disbelief.

"I… guess so," Lillie said, shocked to see a Tapu lounging around like that guy who crashes your pad and never leaves (c'mon, you know who I'm talking about). "They do say that Tapu Bulu is the laziest Tapu of the bunch, but…"

It took a full minute for Tapu Bulu to even register that they were there, when it glanced down at them casually. It practically rolled its eyes and sighed as it reached for the remote, flipped the TV off, got up and floated down to the trio to accost them as to why they were there and what their business was.

"Don't show fear," Lillie whispered into Reimu's ear, even though Lillie herself was shaking a bit. "We're here to ask for its help."

Reimu stood front and center, a sweaty palm gripping Sasha's Pokeball just in case things turned sour. In front of her, Tapu Bulu's tail swung from left to right, its bell ringing just slightly as the bull-like Island Guardian stared her down.

"I am Reimu Hakurei," she started. "The girl beyond the Ultra Wormhole." It took a second, but it seemed that Bulu recalled that fact, since it nodded and said "...bulu" a couple of times.

"I have faced many challenges, and so have my friends here. We come here to ask for your help, help in ending this blizzard and bringing life back to the island."

Bulu's tail stopped wagging.

"...oh?" Reimu said, as she let go of Sasha's Pokeball.

Bulu looked down, slumped, and shook its head lightly.

"It… it can't help us with the blizzard?" Reimu asked. "I don't get it."

Hau looked behind him, then thought about the white Sphere Doomer which almost killed them and was probably causing the blizzard. He looked back at the girls and said, "maybe it can't stop the blizzard because it can't beat the thing causing it."

Reimu rubbed her chin. "Perhaps so. Tapu Bulu might be able to return the island to a tropical state, but if it can't overcome the Sphere Doomer causing the blizzard, there's nothing it can do except lounge here and watch the island shiver to death." It was a depressing fact, how a mighty Island Guardian couldn't do anything about this threat… but what if Tapu Bulu needed their help more than they needed its help?

"We have to find it," Reimu said pointing a finger up. "We have to find it and beat it. It's the only way."

Hau rolled his eyes. "Oh, sure, just go find and beat the thing that, oh, I don't know, _nearly killed us _earlier today? And just HOW do you suggest we do that? It could be anywhere on this island, and its fast. We'll never find it!"

Reimu let Stardust out of its Pokeball.

"...what are you doing?" Lillie asked her.

"You'll see," Reimu smirked.

Stardust wandered up to the Island Guardian, and poked its bell. This got Bulu's attention and prompted it to look down at the little puffball.

"What's it doing?" Hau said, crouching down.

"It's very interested in Tapu Bulu," Lillie noted.

The two Pokemon gazed at each other for a bit, before Stardust went "Pew! Pew!" and flailed its pom-poms around. This prompted another response from Bulu, and led to something of a back-and-forth between them.

"Hmm," Hau hummed. "What's this? Are you using Stardust to pep up Tapu Bulu somehow?"

"Nebby is very interested in the Tapu as well," Lillie told Reimu. "Perhaps there's some sort of connection between them. Maybe when Tapu Koko saved you back at Mahalo, it was also trying to save Nebby as well as you."

"Indeed there might be a special connection between these Cosmogs and the Tapu," Reimu conceded, "but that's not the real reason for what I'm doing."

"What is it?" Lillie asked, before a screech and a cackle down the hallway made her eyes widen and her mouth stretch as she slowly turned around, as did Hau.

"I'm using it as bait," Reimu smiled with her arms crossed.

Barreling down the hall was a white wall, freezing the moss on the walls as it raced down, and headed straight for them.

Reimu recalled Stardust just as the Sphere Doomer burst into the chamber, causing everyone to jump aside as it struck the ground and skidded across the floor. Getting back up and off the ground, it turned to face them before roaring at them with its wings spread, the force of the icy wind almost knocking them down.

"What the hell!" Lillie exclaimed, again dropping her timid, refined tone for the rougher tone, although this time she didn't care.

"It worked, that's all that matters," Reimu said earnestly before snatching a Pokeball and siccing Lucario on it. Hau did not hesitate to summon Arcanine to melt it. Lillie reached for Adele, her go-to for handling strong threats, before noticing something glowing in her bag.

"Hm?" she wondered, pulling the object out. It was the Zygarde Cube, glowing green and white. Suddenly, flashes of green rushed in from the crevices and openings in the ruins, congregating inside of an empty Ultra Ball in her bag.

"What's going on?!" Reimu stammered as the green dots rushed between her feet.

"I don't know!" Lillie shouted, "it's the Zygarde Cube!" After a few moments, the dots stopped rushing, and the cube stopped glowing. Lillie, as a test, reached for the formerly empty Ultra Ball and tossed it. Emerging from it was a black-and-green dog-like creature with white, flashing hexagonal scales and a green "tentacle" resembling a scarf. It howled a very pixelated howl as the ground around it lit up.

"...Zygarde," Lillie whispered.

"Zygarde?" Reimu asked, puzzled. "That's what it looks like? For such a powerful Pokemon according to what's-their-faces, I was imagining something more imposing than a dog." She shook her head, and focused on the threat in front of them. "It doesn't matter right now. Let's end this thing!" Tapu Bulu stood beside their Pokemon, as the Sphere Doomer cackled once more and began its assault, shooting three white energy spheres at them. All split off and dodged with grace, all determined to retaliate.

Being a creature of ice, it made perfect sense to Hau to try and roast it with Arcanine's Flamethrower. Unfortunately for him, however, the Sphere Doomer was able to parry the attack by whipping up a vortex with its wings which caught the flame and blasted it aside. Reimu felt a more head-on approach was called for, and instructed Lucario to run up the wall and jump down onto it to try and hit it with Blaze Kick, and to use Aura Sphere if that missed. Lucario had to divert his attack to avoid Arcanine's Flamethrower, prompting it to charge up and launch an Aura Sphere which, while it didn't do a ton of damage, drew aggro from the Sphere Doomer and caused it to rush Lucario.

Zygarde jumped in midair and bit the Sphere Doomer, tearing off some energy from its wing. It could recover this, of course, but it took a few moments of focusing for it to do so, allowing the three to huddle briefly and discuss strategy.

"Firing Flamethrower everywhere isn't going to cut it," Reimu sternly told Hau. "You saw it forced Lucario to fumble its attack."

"But, it's Ice-type, right?" Hau asked. "And Ice is weak to Fire."

"That doesn't mean anything if the Fire attack doesn't hit," Reimu noted. "It's lightning fast. We need to pin it down somehow, to corner it so we can attack it." She looked over at the Sphere Doomer again, who was still charging. "I'll rush it with Lucario; Lillie, I want you to have Zygarde do… something that will hopefully corner it; Hau, herd it with Flamethrower if it tries to escape."

"Got it," both of them said in unison.

The Sphere Doomer finished repairing itself and attacked the crew again. Hau stationed Arcanine by the exit to deter it from escaping, taking potshots if it got too close. Arcanine assumed hit-and-run tactics, either biting the Sphere Doomer when it could or scratching it with its claws; its 4x weakness to Ice was doing it no favors here.

Reimu instructed Lucario to go at it again with Blaze Kick. As she did, however, she noticed an odd glow coming from her bag.

"Hmm?" She checked it, and realized it was the Keystone that the Kangaskhan had given her back at Wela Volcano Park. Was it reacting to something, she wondered.

Then, a similar glow emanated from the aquamarine pendant on that necklace she purchased back at Olivia's jewelry store. Noticing it came from slits along the edge, she realized it opened, and, after some fumbling around, found the switch and popped it open. Inside the pendant was another, hidden and multicolored gemstone that was radiating energy.

It was an odd gemstone alright, she thought.

A piece of Lucarionite.

Lucario jumped in front of her facing the other way. Feeling his Aura pulse out and resonate through her body, she realized what she needed to do.

She held the Keystone up, causing energy to erupt from around her and flow into Lucario. As this happened, Lillie, Hau and even Tapu Bulu turned around to watch what was unfolding.

"What the…" Hau said.

The energy soon formed a crystal around Lucario, which fractured and then burst in all directions, as a new, stronger and more powerful form emerged, a captivating sight to be seen: Mega Lucario.

As the dust settled, blue flames fired from Lucario's palms, as it opened its eyes, glared at the Sphere Doomer, and cried out, its cry echoing through the ruins' hallowed halls.

Reimu stood silently for a second, seemingly meditating, before whipping out her gohei, spinning it around and pointing it straight forward.

"Now…" she whispered. "Lucario… no, _Mega _Lucario." Her eyes opened, her irises stark yellow just like Lucario's at that moment, and blue flames similarly surrounding her. "Ravage it!"

Lucario nodded and then took no time rushing down the Sphere Doomer at impossibly fast speed. Before it could register much, its eyes widened as Lucario forced it down to the ground and unleashed a vicious series of kicks and punches, a hundred hits a second, pummeling the creature like a wild animal. A final kick launched the Sphere Doomer and plastered it onto the high ceiling, followed by Lucario charging and then unleashing a huge laser composed entirely of Aura, ravaging the winged beast in a matter of seconds.

"WHOA!" Hau and Lillie stepped back as they watched this all unfold, absolutely speechless as to what they were seeing. In particular, Reimu seemed as though she were directing the Aura laser attack herself, slowly raising her right arm with her gohei up in the air, before a swift motion cut the laser, causing the Sphere Doomer to fall and crash onto the ground.

Near death and low on power, the Sphere Doomer weakly tried to get up and escape, but as it peered up it saw Tapu Bulu bearing down on it with a gigantic wooden mallet. The Island Guardian, intending to finish it off once and for all, bore down, causing the ground to quake and the stone tiles underneath it to crack and shatter as the Sphere Doomer exploded, scattering Icium-Z's everywhere.

After a moment, the Aura surrounding Lucario and Reimu subsided, and in a white flash Lucario returned to its normal form, as did Reimu. Both of them then immediately collapsed onto the ground, exhausted from what they had gone through.

Hau and Lillie rushed over to their aid. "Reimu! Are you alright?"

Reimu looked up at Lillie, still drained. "...what… was that all about?"

"I… I think that was a Mega Evolution," Lillie told her. "You and Lucario… your bond right then… and those stones…"

Reimu reached into her bag, grabbing and then downing an entire bottle of iced tea in one gulp, which was enough to get her spirits back up and go over to Lucario to aid him. A couple potions later, and he was good to go back into his ball.

She reached for her pendant and pointed out the Lucarionite. "It was this thing," she commented. "It was hidden in the pendant. When it started glowing, Lucario jumped in front of me, and the Aura resonated through both of us. And, it was the weirdest thing, and then my vision went black and I started hearing a voice in my head."

Hau tilted his head. "A voice?"

"Yeah, a male voice," Reimu answered. "And it kinda sounded like it was coming from Lucario."

"Interesting…" Lillie mused. "What did… he…. say?"

Reimu responded by reciting the voice in her head.

"_ It is time. You seek to further your skills, is that correct? Then let us form a bond. Your Aura-sensing and manipulating powers are unique for a human, that is why I was drawn to you. Let us now break the chains that bind us and fight as one, trainer and Pokemon. I am thou, thou art I. The moment has come at last. The moment to show the world the true power of Aura!"_

Reimu continued, "and then, after that, well… it was, it was kinda like I was running on autopilot. My will and actions, translated into Lucario's, and vice-versa. Everything Lucario felt, I felt as well. It was as though we were fighting as one entity, lending each the other's strength."

Lillie was fascinated. "So that… is what Mega Evolution is like." She stepped forward. "I've always been curious about it. I've read all about it in books, and watched some trainers use Mega Pokemon in televised matches, but I've never seen what it's like in person."

"It looked intense," Hau added.

"It really was," Reimu replied. "I feel like I just got hit by a bus."

Lillie spoke up again. "I read somewhere that Mega Evolution is a poorly understood phenomenon that only a few trainers have been able to unlock the secrets of, and even fewer are willing to talk about. It happens when a trainer and a Pokemon form an especially strong bond, allowing for the Pokemon to reach untold levels of power. This is facilitated by a Keystone, which is a type of extremely rare mineral, and a species-specific 'Mega Stone,' which form under circumstances nobody yet quite knows. Only about 40 or so Pokemon species have ever been recorded Mega Evolving, out of several thousand, all fully-evolved or not evolving to or from anything. Some have theories as to why certain species can Mega Evolve: some, like Garchomp and Salamence, are powerful species that some cultures worshipped as minor gods, and so Mega Evolution unlocks their full 'legendary' potential. However, there are some weaker species such as Mawile and Sableye that can Mega Evolve as well; some Pokemon professors think they might have been stronger in the past and Mega Evolving reawakens that lost level of power still present in their genes."

"Whatever the case, it is now accepted that Rayquaza was the first Pokemon to ever Mega Evolve, when it received the will of the people of Hoenn to put a stop to Kyogre and Groudon's rage. Some time later, when the legend of Rayquaza reached Kalos, some monks there figured out how to replicate what happened to Rayquaza in other Pokemon. Lucario was the first species they successfully Mega Evolved, and some attribute this to Lucario's connection to Aura."

Reimu was silent for a moment before saying, "you're very wise, Lillie. You know so much about the world, and yet only now are you experience."

Lillie, feeling flattered, blushed slightly. "Well… I'm used to reading a lot in my spare time. Mother wouldn't let me do much else."

"...I see."

* * *

Making their way back outside the ruins, the trio was followed closely by Tapu Bulu. Despite the snow and ice still on the ground, they were instantly blasted by a wave of hot air, prompting them to shed their ski gear.

"Look!" Hau said, pointing upward at the clear sky. "That's the end of the blizzard!"

"We did it!" Lillie smiled.

Reimu turned around to face Tapu Bulu. "Now then," she said, "those awful Sphere Doomers ruined your island. I'm sure you'd like to do something about it." And in that moment, Tapu Bulu nodded in agreement, before surrounding itself in green energy and shooting upward into the great blue yonder.

Moving faster than any jet, Bulu shed energy all across the island. Where it went, snow melted back into the sea, palm trees came back to life, flowers sprouted, Pokemon came out of hiding to bask in the tropical sun once more. Standing at the gate of the Malie Garden as the fountains were triumphantly switched back on, Professor Kukui stood, looking up at the sky and sun.

"Nice work, cousin," he smiled. "Nice work."

No longer was it an ice desert. Instead, the Haina desert was back to its natural state: hot, sandy and bristling with cacti. The three stood at the entrance to the ruins, looking outward and admiring their work.

"Well," Reimu smirked, her hands beside her hips. "I guess we won't be needing those skis anymore."

"You got that right!" Hau cheered.

Reimu then collapsed to the ground.

Worried, Lillie quickly knelt down to help her. "Goodness!" she said, worried. "Are you alright?"

"It's hooooooooooooot!" Reimu complained. "I feel l'm gonna meeeeeeeeeeeeeeelt…"

Lillie looked up at the sky again. _Phew, it is hot _, she thought, wiping sweat off her brow. Just a moment ago, it was freezing. Now it felt like their skin was going to melt right off of their bones. She looked over and saw Hau struggling to keep himself cool, too.

There's only one solution to this, she thought.

"This spot is the best," Reimu said to Lillie while kicking back fruit punch in a half of a coconut. "How'd you find it?"

"I noticed it on the way to the ruins," Lillie told her.

"Good eye. I'm liking it right now."

Lillie had found a lush oasis in the middle of the desert, complete with palm trees, cool water, and a ring of grass, all surrounded by hot sun and sand. And best of all, they had it all to themselves, unlike if they had tried going to the beach which was surely packed with sunbathers trying to repair their tans after days of being cooped up inside, some without power. It was the first time the girls got to try out bathing suits Lillie had picked out on one of her shopping trips, and she must have hit the right spot because she thought Reimu looked absolutely gorgeous in the red bikini she had gotten for her. True, there were some scars in a couple places from knives and bullets grazing just a little too closely, but Lillie would honestly have been suspicious if there weren't scars to back up Reimu's stories.

Hau was off to one side, relaxing and playing his Switch again, this time playing Cuphead (he thought it was a fun game, but he was having trouble getting past Dr. Kahl's Robot). As he looked up at the girls chatting it up on the side of the water, he couldn't help but get a funny feeling. Shaking it off, he continued his game, only to be interrupted moments later by the sudden growl of a Garchomp.

They all stared at the land shark, waltzing up to the oasis like it owned the place, stopping just short of the bank next to a berry tree.

"What does it want?" Lillie asked, just a little scared. "Does it want us to leave?"

"Well, if it wants trouble, it's gonna get it," Reimu said, getting up and grabbing a Pokeball as she did so. But then a small object popped up on the Garchomp's head.

"Gible!"

The tiny Gible jumped off his mother's head and into the tree, coming down a second later with a succulent Yache berry, a favorite food of Garchomps everywhere (well, aside from meat, of course).

Reimu stood down as the three admired the touching scene in front of them.

"Well… that's actually kind of sweet," Reimu said softly.

"They've probably gone without food for days," Lillie told her. "I'm sure that Gible was hungry!" Garchomp might have been a scary Pokemon, they all thought, but even then, they still had babies to look after, loved ones to take care of, just like the humans who lived around them.

Reimu smirked, then looked around to Hau. "Y'know," she said, "I heard that Crabrawler of yours likes to be at the top of things to prove its the best. Maybe yours can show that Gible how it's done."

Hau smiled. "Oh, yeah, I'm sure he would, but…" He let it out of its Pokeball, revealing a large, wooly crab-yeti thing. "...I think the cold weather got to him and made him evolve. He'd probably snap the tree in half."

...that's a really strange evolution, Reimu said to herself. It literally looked to her like a yeti crossed with a crab. That would be like a yuki-onna crossed with a nekomata, she felt.

Just then, Reimu got a notification on her phone. Pulling it up, she saw it was a message from Acerola, the girl from the library yesterday:

_"Are you done with fixing the weather? If you are, could you come by the Aether House in Tapu Village? I want to show you all my trial. Looking forward to seeing you~!"_

"Oh yes, the trial!" Reimu exclaimed. "I forgot all about it. What do you say? Lillie? Hau?"

"Sure, why not," Hau answered, "I wanna battle, not bake like a potato all day."

"You're a potato," Reimu said back in the most lame, "no u" way imaginable. They waited until the Garchomp and her child had left before summoning the Charizard to whisk them away to the Aether House.

_I probably should have put my clothes back on first _, Reimu thought as the wind blew against her skin.


	35. Me Curse You

The sky had turned orange from the sunset by the time they arrived. It was easy to spot: a shining white house next to the Pokemon Center set against a backdrop of dark, basalt rocks. Acerola was already waiting for them out front when the Charizard touched down and let them off.

"Alola~!" she beamed.

"Alola," Reimu said back. She quickly threw her street clothes back on while Lillie and Hau got off as well and recalled the Charizard back to base.

"I see you three have been up to quite a bit!" Acerola said to them.

"We saw the Tapu at its shrine!" Hau exclaimed.

Acerola looked up at the sky, then around the house, then looked back at them and said, "I bet you did. Only a Tapu could have swept up the snow so quickly." She swayed around slightly. "Anyway, so you all came here to take on my trial!"

Hau's stomach growled a bit. "Actually, uh, I'm hungry. And tired. Can I do the trial later?"

"Can I do it later as well?" Lillie said also. "After all that…"

Acerola giggled. "Oh, I see? Well, I supposed after everything you've been up to today, you could use a little rest!"

"Well, we did fall off a cliff, fought a really tough Totem just after that, then spent hours in the desert looking for Tapu Bulu," Reimu said. "Of course we'd be pretty wiped." She looked behind her for a bit, then turned back and continued, "but, I suppose I have just enough left in me for one more challenge today."

"Splendid," Acerola smiled. "I can show you the trial site right now if you would like while these two get settled in."

"I don't see why not," Reimu answered. She had had a big day, yes, but she had also had much larger days than this one quite frequently back at home; for instance, what started as a fairly boring spring day one time ended in Makai facing off against a thousand-year-old sealed youkai priestess with no hitbox, so she was always sure to have just enough fight in her for whatever was thrown in her direction even while she was slacking off.

In any case, Acerola gave her a bunch of Hyper Potions before leading her toward a cape just to the south.

* * *

The road they were walking on was full of cracks with weeds growing in them, and all around were deserted structures, most of which were torn to bits with only one or two walls or an exposed foundation remaining. Nature had started reclaiming the area, and there were numerous Pokemon living burrowed under piles of rubble, inside more intact houses and buildings or atop ruined walls.

"Geez," Reimu said, "this place looks like it got hit by a typhoon and was never rebuilt."

"People call this area Tapu Village," Acerola explained. "It used to be called something else, but I can't remember the name right now. The story behind it is that, many, many years ago a development tycoon came to Alola and bought a bunch of cheap land here on the southern tip so they could build a 'planned community' or something, full of houses, vacation homes, an arcade, a swimming pool, office space, you get the idea. Basically, they wanted to make their own resort town and make big bucks. The problem is, this area is considered sacred ground by native Alolans who used to worship Tapu Bulu here, so lots of people, including my dad, tried to tell them not to do it. But, legally, they couldn't stop them, so they just went ahead and built it. It stayed up for a couple years, before Tapu Bulu realized it existed and decided to completely wreck it."

Reimu's eyes went wide, and she looked around again. "Wait.. so just Tapu Bulu did all this?"

"Exactly," Acerola answered. "I'm sure you saw how it brought life back to the island. It controls plants and nature, and wields a lot of power; it was, after all, the only one out of the other Tapus and even Solgaleo and Lunala who opposed Necrozma during that fight, a town really isn't that hard for it to destroy. No one was injured, of course, because it scared everyone off first, but the town is now in ruins, with the Pokemon Center being the only thing it spared. No one even wants to come through to demolish the ruins because they're afraid it'll enrage Tapu Bulu again, so it's just been left behind for nature to take back."

"I had no idea the Tapu could be so fierce," Reimu said.

Acerola winked. "Well, if what I've heard is true, aren't you like a priestess or something where you come from? I'm sure you know how wrathful a god can get if you cross it."

_That is true _, Reimu thought, but then again she'd never actually seen a god's wrath in her life, mainly because one of her jobs was to keep that from happening. Technically, she supposed, Okuu counted as a god since she absorbed all the powers of the Yatagarasu, but calling that birdbrain a god would be charitable, to say the least.

"Truth be told, I've never seen a god's wrath, but there is one god that stands head and shoulders above all the others. We call it the Gensokyo Great Dragon, or the Dragon God for short. Dragons are the highest level of beings there, but the Dragon God can cause massive tempests with just one breath, or quell them all the same. It flows through time, space, truth, lies, and any sort of barrier. There's a statue of it in the village that can predict the weather or even major incidents, and it lent its power to the three youkai sages to construct the Great Hakurei Border."

"What's that?" Acerola asked.

"It's a mystical barrier that separates Gensokyo from the rest of the world. I've never been there, but I've read stories and heard from other people about what it's like. It's much like this one, but unfortunately bleaker: wars still happen regularly, people dump trash in the oceans and pump garbage into the air that warms up the planet somehow, forests are cut down and the children hardly sing anymore. Most of all, though, they've given up faith, which is bad for youkai and gods alike since a lack of faith and fear of them causes them to die. Gensokyo is the last place on the planet where they can still live, safe from that miasma, thanks to the border that me and my ancestors before me have been tasked with maintaining."

Wars? Garbage? Cutting down forests? Seemed like a pretty bad place to be, Acerola thought: the Pokemon world's strict environmental laws kept the oceans and air pristine, and a worldwide moratorium on coal and other fuels rendered global warming a non-issue for over four decades. Plus, they hadn't had a war in 3000 years, back when the most advanced weapons they had other than the Ultimate Weapon were swords, spears, and dragons; Acerola shuddered to think what war in a world with a similar level of technology would be like (nukes had never been invented, although the basic premise of their operation was understood).

"Do you still like your world?" Acerola asked again.

"Yes, I do," Reimu replied, "but I feel like it could take a lot of cues from this one."

"Yeah… if only you could stay," Acerola said. "I guess it's not like you could just pluck Gensokyo right from that place and drop it here in Alola and leave the rest of that awful world behind. In the end, you gotta go home, even if home isn't that great."

"I suppose," Reimu conceded. "I probably wouldn't travel to the Outside even if I could on my own. But maybe if I find out how to get home I could figure out a way to come back here to visit at some point."

"Now there's a thought!" Acerola smiled.

* * *

The town's desolation continued along a barren, windswept beach with black rock spires and spits jutting out into the choppy tidal waters. Walking along the washed-out remains of a blacktop road, Reimu looked out to one of the juts and noticed what seemed to be a large, black dragon with a person-sized figure next to it.

"What's that?" Reimu asked, pointing.

Acerola looked. "That? Oh, that's probably Hilbert and Zekrom. I see them out here a lot when I'm leading people to my trial site. You know about the first Team Plasma incident, right?"

"I have," Reimu said, "mostly from a guy named N that we ran into back on Melemele, although it was actually a Zoroark."

"Oh, so you have met N," Acerola giggled. "Anyway, so Hilbert kinda wandered around after that, and he wound up here in Alola with his Zekrom. I think he lives in a dusty shack just outside of Malie, and I've seen him working at the sushi place. The local heresay is that he and N are looking for each other again, but no one knows why."

"I'm sure there could be any number of reasons," Reimu told her. "If they both lost direction after that, I could see why they'd want to see each other again. Although, seriously, that Ghetsis guy seems messed up. Doing all those wretched things to a child and plotting to kill him afterward..."

"That's why they got him locked up in a madhouse far away from everything," Acerola said. "He's a bedridden, blabbering vegetable who only spouts complete nonsense. At least, that's what everyone says."

Reimu wondered to herself why they tried to keep people like that alive. If she saw Ghetsis, she'd probably kill him, not because of his evil deeds but rather to put him out of his misery. That level of insanity would make Reisen cringe.

* * *

They made it to the trial site, just as it was getting to be twilight and clouds were forming, foreshadowing a building storm.

Reimu stood and looked at the ruined, abandoned Thrifty Megamart, which was covered in vines and whose sign had a couple of letters missing. Many of the windows were broken in, and the exterior was covered in graffiti, much of it Team Skull graffiti.

"An abandoned building…" she hummed. "Not a bad place for a Ghost trial."

"Ghost Pokemon love to hide in dark, shadowy places to jump out and scare others," Acerola explained. "It helps that they built this on top of a burial site, too."

"Aw man, isn't the whole 'built on top of an ancient burial ground' trope kinda cliche'd at this point?" Reimu expressed while facepalming.

"But it works, right?" Acerola smiled with that cat smile of hers.

Reimu shook her head and approached the broken door leading to the inside of the building. There she… felt a chill run down her spine, and a sense of dread.

Calm down, Reimu told herself. These sorts of things always happen when ghosts and ghouls are lurking about. Whenever the air temperature suddenly dropped like that and you had a sense of dread for no apparent reason, that was ghosts drawing thermal, mental and spiritual energy toward themselves. She WAS a shrine maiden after all; handling malevolent spirits was her JOB. But… it was different now without her spiritual and barrier powers, and she now had only her Pokemon companions and her own wits to protect herself against whatever lie just inside the dilapidated facade of the abandoned supermarket.

She reached into her bag, felt around, and managed to find a couple, slightly crumpled ofuda underneath some Leppa Berries. She took them out and stuck them in her pocket. They would probably do her no good, she figured, but anything to give her some personal comfort and peace of mind would let her get through this trial without going completely blanched from fear. She also kept Sasha on hand; surely its Dark-typing would help her out.

Reimu gathered her courage and took one last deep breath before cracking the door open, and setting foot inside.

* * *

The inside of the abandoned supermarket was completely black, save for the rapidly fading light of day shining through some upper windows. She wasn't in the dark long, though, as Rotom popped out and illuminated its camera flash to provide some light.

"You're a Ghost-type as well, right?" Reimu asked.

"Yeszzz I am!" Rotom answered. "And lemme tell ya: we're all a bunch of troublemakers!"

"Most spirits are," Reimu said. It wasn't long after she said that before she heard some rustling over by the checkout stands; the poltergeists were out already.

Reimu walked up to the stands to investigate the source of the sound, a basket which was rattling around on its own without anything seemingly manipulating it. Grabbing the basket herself, she inspected it. It stopped moving on its own, confirming that it was a ghost. As she set it down, though, she felt the hairs on her neck standing up and a tingling sensation in her fingers. She started feeling as though something was behind her…

She turned around. There was nothing.

Brushing it off, she decided to continue her investigation of the place. The Totem was around here somewhere, she reckoned, and she wasn't too interested in funny business before she found it.

She decided first to check out the produce department. There, traces of moldy, rotting fruits and vegetables could be seen on the display stands, further evidence of the store's sudden abandonment in the face of an enraged Tapu. Perusing the area carefully, she saw nothing amiss and continued forward, unaware of the figure scurrying around in the rafters just above.

Moving on to the meat department, it seemed much the same case: rotten, moldy meat still in the cases. There was a Pokemon here, but it was a Trubbish who was busily eating the rotten food. It didn't seem interested in her, so she let it be.

She moved down the aisles, going in between canned and boxed goods, before a box flew from one shelf to the opposite one right in front of her face. Pausing for a second to think, she decided to crawl down the rest of the aisle and not check out the others. She did a quick sweep of the bakery department and deli before moving on to the rest of the store.

Starting with the trainer goods, she took note of all the empty, ransacked shelves; it was clear looters had been through here grabbing up whatever free Pokeballs, potions, ethers and medicines they could get their grubby hands on. Still, she managed to find a couple Paralyze Heals sitting on the shelf and, after looking around, quickly scooped them up into her back on continued onward.

She wisely decided to steer clear of the hardware and gardening sections since she didn't exactly want a pitchfork or a saw blade in her head, so instead she checked out the apparel section which had similarly been cleared out by burglars and previous trial-goers, with only some tattered rags of clothing left here and there. Amusingly, the mannequins had also been taken, sometimes with the shirts, pants, skirts and underwear they had been posing with being left behind. At one point, she also saw torn packaging, and just beyond that a Rattata trying to eat a pair of lace panties before it noticed her and scurried back into its hole with the lingerie still in its mouth. Other oddities included a "one tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor" t-shirt, a hat that looked suspiciously like Tenshi's, a poster depicting a beach scene with the woman in a bikini having been torn out, a similar scene with a hunky man having also been torn out, and an article which Reimu could not figure out what it was or what part of the body it was worn on before giving up and tossing it over her shoulder (she wouldn't learn that it was a fire extinguisher until much later).

After a thorough inspection, all that was left for her to cover was the toy section, which worried her the most: given her own personal experiences with creepy children and associated paranormal activity, she knew that ghosts and spirits were drawn to "childish" things like a moth to flame. Already, she felt the miasma emanating from it as she stepped out of the last vestiges of the clothing department, as her once-latent aura abilities went off in her head like alarm bells and the presence of evil spirits was so thick it could be sliced with a knife. Passing board games, stuffed animals and action figures, Reimu kept up her vigilance and a Pokeball ready to send out at any time.

The toy section melded into the outdoor recreation section, which included hunting rifles and shotguns (among the few types of firearms that were common in the Pokemon world). Predictably, the glass cases housing them and their ammunition were broken and most of them stolen. Reimu turned around, and was unnerved to see the mounted Sawsbuck head overlooking the area. Proceeding forward, she passed by sports equipment, camping supplies, and bikes.

Finding no strong leads, she was considering looking through some of the staff-only areas before she heard giggling. "Who's there?" she said jolting around holding a Pokeball up. Getting no answer, and out of an adrenaline rush, she ran to the open gun case, found a shotgun and some bullets, loaded it up and cocked it, training it on the ceiling.

"Reveal yourself!" she demanded, growing increasingly panicked. She turned around, facing a wall, and heard more giggling. She drew closer, and the giggling slowly turned into sustained, manic laughter, concentrated on a slight red stain on the wall. Quickly, she fired one round into it, causing the laughter to turn into pained screaming before abruptly stopping.

Reimu breathed heavily, still holding the gun up. "Gotcha, sucker," she muttered under her breath, with a false half-smile and wide eyes on her face. After some seconds, though, the hole in the wall began to slowly drip blood. Reimu peered into it, and saw the flow thicken before, suddenly, a pressurized burst blew out, striking her in the head and knocking her to the ground, which was when she discovered that the "blood" was in fact fruit punch. That didn't stop her from choking on it as she tried to crawl away, made worse by even more holes punching open and spraying her. The fruit punch then turned into oil, pooling all over the floor and causing Reimu to blindly wallow around and slip, before the whole thing went into reverse as the liquid got sucked back into the holes in an instant, leaving no trace other than red and black lines and pools all over Reimu's skin and stains on her clothes.

"Hack, ack," Reimu coughed as she tried to get up, before she heard a creaking sound. Confused, she looked around, and saw the Sawsbuck head with glazed-over eyes and its mouth open. It turned to face her for a second, before bursting out in deranged laughter.

Reimu peered at this curiosity for a moment, before hearing more laughing off to the side: a substitute doll rocking back and forth. On the other side, a gun case swinging open and closed with high-pitched giggling. This all was accompanied by a heightening chorus of laughs, chortles and chuckles as shoes tap danced on the floor, basketballs bounced up and down on their own, playing cards flew around and dolls and action figures rolled around.

Reimu took this surreal scene in for a few moments, looking around at the madness surrounding her, thinking about an appropriate course of action. Quickly, she dug out Gyarados's Pokeball, tossed it in the air and covered her ears. Gyarados emerged, towering over the aisles and shelves, and bellowed a mighty, intimidating roar which shook the dilapidated walls of the abandoned megamart. Almost immediately, the poltergeist activity stopped as the Ghost Pokemon causing it freaked out and scattered in all directions. Every which-way, Gastlys, Haunters, Yamasks, Duskulls, Shuppets, Banettes, Sableyes and Frillish criss-crossed and ran through and over each other as they scrambled for the exits. Amid the chaos, a black figure fell out of the Sawsbuck head and fell to the ground. Getting back up, it and Reimu eyed each other; it was a small, humanoid figure with orange eyes and a wisp on top of its head. It stood there for only five seconds before dissolving into shadow and escaping, but not before Rotom was able to identify it as a Marshadow. Reading the Dex entry, Reimu was intrigued by the power wielded by such a cowardly and rare creature, and she vowed to keep an eye out for it in the future just in case.

"Trust me," Rotom said, "thizz is tame compared to the stuff I've seen."

"...I bet," Reimu huffed, fixing her hair.

Tossing the gun aside, Reimu looked around once more. Still there was no sign of the Totem Pokemon, which both tensed and annoyed her.

"Stop playing games!" she shouted. "Come out here and show yourself!"

Her demand was met with silence, which was sustained for several moments before the pitter-patter of scurrying feet could be heard above.

"Hmm…?!" she grunted, looking up, but saw nothing. Moving slowly, she thought she heard movement behind her, but when she turned around she saw nothing.

"...what is the meaning…?"

"Can I help?" Rotom offered. "Sometiiimezz Ghost Pokemon don't like to show themselves, but I can reveal them with my camera."

Right, the camera. Reimu grabbed Rotom out of midair and began searching around her for hidden ghosts. A couple seconds after she started, she thought she heard faint noises emanating from… somewhere.

"...mi-mi…"

She took a few steps forward, and the chirps got louder.

"...mi-mi…"

The sounds had gotten quieter after a little while, so Reimu turned around and took a couple steps back.

"...me?"

She looked up.

"...me?"

She turned around, facing a poster of a Pikachu sitting on a spiky-haired trainer's shoulder.

"...me…"

She looked down.

"...curse…"

She turned around…

"Me curse you!"

Reimu jolted in surprise as she snapped the photo, before getting a look at what she had uncovered with her own eyes: something wearing a raggedy Reimu doll, with a large, tilted head and a crudely-drawn face, and whose body had two beady dots which she presumed were the creature's eyes.

"Ahhh, what ARE youuu?" she stammered out. She took out a repelling ofuda and waved it around, not that it fazed the Mimikyu at all. She regained her composure, though, and knew what she had to do.

Throwing Sasha's Pokeball, she proclaimed, "cursed Ghost Pokemon, you may have succeeded in frightening people in the past, but now your time has come! Feel the fire and fury of a Dark Pokemon who will best you and banish you to he-"  
She felt a weight on her shoulders.

"Hmm?" She looked, and saw Sasha curled up on her back with a frightened expression.

Reimu slapped her face and sighed. "Oh, come on, you're supposed to be my trump card who takes out enemies with dance-like finesse and dragon-like force! When did you become afraid of GHOSTS all of a sudden?"

Shaking off the Heel Pokemon, Sasha fell to the floor and cowered, visibly shaking and with a puffed-up tail.

Reimu crossed her arms and glared. "You will NOT disappoint me now." She pointed at Mimikyu. "KILL IT!"

Sasha whimpered, but Reimu was having none of it. "_ KILL IT! _" she shouted, eyes red.

Sasha jumped in the air, now even more frightened of angering his trainer than any ghosts, picked up the discarded shotgun and started chasing the Mimikyu across the store. Unfortunately, Incineroars weren't exactly the most agile things in the world, meanwhile Mimikyu scurried up the walls, around support pillars, and through shelves, all of which Sasha crashed through taking shots with the gun all the while. Soon, the Mimikyu dived into a hole in the wall, which Sasha attempted to jump through, but instead crashed into head-first. After taking a moment to clear out the birds circling his head, Sasha poked the shotgun into the hole, and pushed it in, not realizing that the barrel bent over itself and popped out the wall over the hole, pointed right at his head. Sasha, too focused to notice this, fired, creating smoke and shaving all the fur off the top of his head.

Looking up, Sasha noticed the Mimikyu racing along the rafters. Thinking fast, he dashed over to some high shelves, climbed up them, then monkey-swung along the rafters in Mimikyu's direction. Somehow, he was able to move as fast as the Mimikyu while doing this.

At the far end of the store, just above the produce department, Mimikyu apparently ran into a dead-end. It did not take long for Sasha to catch up. Once he did, he flipped up onto the rafters, flashed his claws, bared his teeth, and growled with a sinister smile as his tail twitched and he approached the cornered Ghost. However, Mimikyu grew a shadowy, clawed arm from under its shroud, which it used to sever the guy wires holding the rafters up, weakening the whole structure and causing it to come crashing down to the ground, knocking over shelves and causing a cascading reaction in which shelves fell over, one by one, falling on Sasha and dumping their contents all over him.

A few seconds later, Sasha emerged from the mess with a black eye, looked at Reimu at the other side of the store, and proclaimed in an echoing voice, "don't you believe it!"

Looking over at the left, Sasha noticed Mimikyu dashing into the meat department. He dug himself out of the mess and busted his way through to the staff-only area, tearing old metal cabinets and displays in half looking for the elusive Disguise Pokemon.

Elsewhere, Reimu had already sent out Magnezone as well to try and go looking for it, as well as keep any other ner-do-wells at arm's length. Looking around at the destruction, Reimu began to wonder if this was a real-life version of those cat-and-mouse cartoons Sanae often talked about watching as a kid. There certainly was enough slapstick going on for it to count.

Also, where did that Mimikyu get the Reimu rag?

Meanwhile, Sasha continued ripping through the meat department in search of the little bugger. He eventually found it loitering in an open fridge. Thinking he had it cornered, he lunged, only to be knocked out of the air by the repulsive smell of years-old rotting meat. Coughing and hacking up a flaming hairball, Sasha got off the ground, only to turn around and see an angry Trubbish glaring at him.

Reimu turned around and was blinded by a flash, forcing her to avert her eyes and dodge the debris being launched in every direction, including a butcher knife which came within three pixels of her hitbox.

Covered in soot but otherwise unharmed, Sasha chased Mimikyu out of the meat department and back toward the toys. Along the way, he grabbed a shovel from the gardening section and began bashing the floor with it trying to catch his prey, who zigzagged in between his strikes while clearly trolling him. Sasha thought he finally caught the red-and-white draped bugger and took a mighty overhead swing, only to be suddenly stopped with a hand.

"Tsk, tsk," Reimu clicked shaking her head in disapproval. "It would be _such _a shame if a Pokemon were to attack his master after everything they've done."

This took Sasha a moment to process before he dropped the shovel and jumped several feet in the air yelping and with all the fur on his body puffing up. Falling on the floor once more, he turned his head around and saw the Mimikyu scurrying along and taunting him the whole way.

Then, a beam of light struck it.

Sasha looked around and saw Magnezone looking at him with the most "you have GOT to be kidding me" expression ever after landing a super-effective Flash Cannon with next to no fuss or fanfare. Not wanting to be defeated, Sasha got his sorry butt off the ground and pounced at the stunned Mimikyu, grabbing it and lifting it up with his hand while smiling triumphantly and sinisterly.

...before actually looking at it and realizing he had only removed its disguise. Magnezone did the closest it could show to a facepalm at this point.

Parked on the floor was a small, shadowy blob, which freaked out and hid in a corner away from Rotom's flashlight. Reimu walked over and tried to talk it out of hiding.

"Come out and explain yourself!" she demanded flipping out her gohei and pointing it at the corner.

No response.

Reimu, not wanting to let her guard down but also wanting to coax it out, softened her tone just a bit. "I want to know if you're the Totem Pokemon. I'm here for my Island Trial."

"...mi...mi...k-k-k…"

"I think it'z scared," Rotom told Reimu.

"Why do you say that?" Reimu questioned.

"Well, you did tell Sasha to 'kill it' rather than just defeat it, for one," Rotom said. "Also, they're scared of light and really shy."

"How do you know this isn't a feint?" Reimu sternly responded. "Aren't their true forms supposed to shock the lives out of men? That's what you were telling me, anyway."

"'Cause I'm a Ghost Pokemon myself, remember? I can read all the others like a book!"

Reimu hummed. "Well, if that's the case, do you think you can draw it out for me? It's getting dark, I really want to wrap this up as quick as I can."

"Sure thing!" Rotom hovered over to the corner where Mimikyu was hiding, and gently tried to persuade it.

"Hey little guy," Rotom said softly. "Can you come out for uszz? I promise we won't hurt you."

It shook at Rotom.

"My master here is really nice. She's just as scared as you are and that's why she had her Pokemon attack."

After a few moments, there was a stir. Rotom back out, and let Mimikyu take its time.

"What's it doing?" Reimu asked Rotom in an aside.

"Just give it a moment," Rotom said back.

After a while, a small, shadowy object came out, with a rounded top, yellow vertical oval eyespots, a small dot mouth and pink blush stickers. It peeked around the corner nervously at Reimu, before coming out and revealing itself.

"...kyu?"

It was nervous, that much Reimu could tell. Wanting to gain its trust, she took out and held out a Poke Bean for it to nibble on. Mimikyu slowly approached it, examined it, then generated a clawed arm to take it out of Reimu's hand to eat it, surprising Reimu a little.

"Soooooo," Reimu remarked. "That's what you look like under the rags."

Mimikyu silently nodded.

"I guess you must not be the Totem Pokemon," Reimu said, noting that it didn't have an aura and it was fairly small, unless of course Mimikyu's natural size was tiny as well.

Mimikyu shook.

"Then why did you decide to torment us?" she asked. "And… where did you get the rag that looked like me?"

Mimikyu looked down and glum for a bit, before looking back up at Reimu. "...pop…"

"Pop?" Reimu questioned cocking an eyebrow. "You just wanted some pop?"

"Pop...u…"

"Erm…"

"Pop-u-lar!"

Reimu scratched her head for a bit. "Popular?"

"Popular!"

Reimu stared off into space trying to figure out what Mimikyu meant. "Popular…" she wondered. "Popular… oh, popular like… me?"

Mimikyu smiled and nodded.

"You want to be popular like me?" she asked again, pointing to herself. Again, Mimikyu gleefully nodded.

"Uh-" Reimu wasn't sure what to think, that this Pokemon wanted to be popular like her. Then, she scratched her neck and smiled. "Oh, I see! Well, I'm flattered, I guess."

She looked at Mimikyu again. "So, you want to become popular like me, so you dressed up like me. But… why?" she asked rubbing her chin. "You weren't seriously trying to replace me, were you?"

Mimikyu froze up and shook while frowning.

"No? Then… did you just want to meet me or something?" Reimu asked more softly.

Mimikyu chirped, nodded and smiled.

"Ohoho, I see!" Reimu beamed. "You just wanted to see me because you're a fan!"

Mimikyu shook again.

"No? Well, you sure did put up an interesting fight… were you trying to battle me to get stronger?"

Mimikyu nodded.

"Oh, well, I see now. I suppose that's why you greeted me with 'me curse you.' That was some kind of taunt. But, you wanted to see how strong you were against me."

Reimu got down to Mimikyu's level. "Let me tell you something: I think it's wonderful that you want to test your strength against others, but you shouldn't coast on other's reputations to do that. I hardly think you'd be able to fight just like me no matter how hard you tried. You have to create your own identity, and fight like only you would fight."

"...kyu?" Mimikyu seemed confused.

"I think you could be an exceptionally capable fighter, but I don't want you trying to copy me and trying to be like me. That would put pressure on yourself and force you to assume an identity that's not yours. Your identity is the one you create and hone for yourself. You might not think it's much, but with hard work you can bring out your true potential."

Mimikyu mulled on that thought for a second, then looked up and smiled. It seemed to understand now.

"See? You get it!" She laughed, then asked Mimikyu, "now, what do you think is your identity? Your persona?"

Mimikyu thought for another moment, before running off and jumping into a toy bin. After a few moments of rummaging around and tossing this and that, it emerged with a gold, toy sword with a red plastic gem on the hilt, and began swinging it around with a clawed arm.

"Oh? A swordfighter?" Reimu mulled in astonishment. Mimikyu, caught up in its act, held the sword out, did some acrobatics and squeaked the most adorable "badass" sound it could muster.

"So, a knight, running around and freeing princesses from the clutches of evil wizards and dragons!" Reimu clapped. "A defender of peace, law and the innocent. A champion of good, but a wanderer of the shadows, striking baddies when they least expect it!"

As a finisher, Mimikyu slashed a watermelon. Even though it was a toy sword, it still managed to cut the watermelon up into eight slices in the blink of an eye, before turning to Reimu and glinting.

"I like it! But…" Reimu trailed off, "I don't think anyone's gonna be scared by how you currently look."

Mimikyu frowned.

"Oh, no, sorry, I didn't mean it like that!" Reimu stuttered. "I just mean, we should, perhaps, get you into an intimidating costume is all! I'll even let you pick it!"

And with that, she and Mimikyu toured the store looking for something that would strike fear into the hearts of villains everywhere. They found a purple sheet in the bedding section that Mimikyu could use as a cape, white gloves that Mimikyu fashioned little hands into to grip the sword better, purple gloss shoes that it could wear as "boots" (heys, its idea, not her's), shoulder pads in the sports section that it could wear as pauldrons, and finally, a toy mask to conceal its face, making it mysterious, leaving only a slit which its yellow eyes shone through.

Reimu stepped back, crossed her arms and looked at the result.

"Fantastic," she praised. "You look great!" At least, that's what she said aloud; truth be told, the mismash was a little hard to take seriously, but given that Mimikyu was just a Pokemon, it was impressive all the same. "Now, we just have to give you a name. Now, what should we call you…"

Mimikyu looked aside, then looked up. "Me…"

"Hm?"

"Me...ta…"

"Huh?"

"Meta-Knight!" Mimikyu proclaimed, raising its sword up in the air triumphantly.

"I… I guess that works! Nice to meet you, Meta-Knight!" Reimu smiled, oblivious to the huge, red-eyed and evilly grinning figure rising up behind her wanting to bite her spine off.

In a flash, Meta-Knight jumped up. Confused, Reimu turned around just in time to witness it slashing the Totem Gengar in the face, causing the latter to stagger back and tumble over. It tried to get back up and retaliate with Dark Pulse, only to be kicked in the face by Meta-Knight, causing it to flinch and giving Meta-Knight the opportunity to hit it with a cross-slash, then a spinning corkscrew cut followed by an uppercut into a broad swipe, all of which was enough to knock Gengar down to the ground.

Seeing its opponent down and out, Meta-Knight pulled one final trick: whistling to summon other Mimikyus, many of them in Pikachu rags, out of the shadows and assembling them around itself. They all then glinted their eyes and jumped up, which led directly into them relentlessly beating up, slashing, clawing, punching and biting the Gengar in lighting-fast strikes. As a finisher, Meta-Knight slashed Gengar's forehead, leaped in front of Reimu and posed while poison gas bled from Gengar, forcing it to dematerialize and slink into hiding to recuperate.

After seeing that display of brutality, Reimu couldn't help but stand there silently and stare.

"...that… was awesome!" She managed to say. "See what I told you about your own strength? You totally showed that Gengar the business!"

Meta-Knight chirped in response to the compliment, before, out of the blue, orange energy swirls came and enveloped it. Moments after they did, Meta-Knight embiggened to about three times its original size, before scattering the energy and holding its sword high.

"Hm?" Reimu hummed. "What just happened?"

Rotom came out in front of her and answered, "ooooohh, I heard the professor talk about this but I've never seen it myself!"

"What is it?" Reimu asked Rotom.

"He said that this is something that happens rarely. Basically, if a wild Pokemon of the same trial type as the Totem Pokemon defeats the Totem in battle, they take their place as the Totem Pokemon of that trial. So, since this is a Ghost trial and Mimikyu is **Ghost**/Fairy, since it won against the Gengar it took all of Gengar's Totem energy and became the new Totem!"

Reimu looked at Meta-Knight and its small army, then asked, "well, so does this mean I have to face it in a trial now?" But before Rotom could answer that, Meta-Knight jumped up and held out two Z-Crystals.

"Huh?" Reimu wondered. "You're… just going to let me have these?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Rotom chimed in. "You helped it overcome its slump and gave it the vigor it needed to defeat the old Totem Pokemon. Of course it would be grateful!"

Reimu decided to take this offer at face value and gently accepted the Z-Crystals. One was the Ghostium-Z, the trial's main prize. The other was a Z-Crystal with two small diamonds at the ends and Mimikyu's mug in place of the type symbol; Reimu was unsure what this one did but figured it was unique to Mimikyu somehow, like Malicious Moonslaught was with Sasha. Either way, she accepted them with gratitude.

After taking the Z-Crystals, Meta-Knight and its followers jumped up and assumed formation on top of a shelf, flashing a pose at Reimu and bidding her good luck on her adventure.

"Well… I'm sure you'll all do well as the Trial-Keepers and defenders of the abandoned, ruined supermarket," she smiled. The Sawsbuck head began cackling again, but Reimu picked up the shovel and threw it at it, causing the Shedinja possessing it to fall out and flee. The Mimikyu gang all called out and wove goodbye as Reimu exited out the Garden Section doors and crawled out through a hole in the chain link fence to the outside.

* * *

"And that's how you got a new Totem Pokemon," Reimu told Acerola between mouthfuls of curry.

"So… Meta-Knight, huh? Must play a lot of games then," Hau added.

"That's what it wants to call itself," Reimu said to him.

"I think it'll make a strong Totem!" Acerola said. "To tell you the truth, I've been watching that particular Mimikyu for a while but haven't been able to approach it. So I trained that Gengar to be easy to beat so it could beat it up and take the Totem title for itself when it was ready."

Reimu looked up. "You mean, you meant for that Mimikyu to be the Totem the whole time?"

"Yup," Acerola answered. "That group of Mimikyu in the Megamart is the biggest in all the islands, and that one is the alpha. Mimikyu in general are extremely timid; that one coming out at all is lionhearted by their standards. And now that it's the Totem and more confident, I'm sure it'll pose a great challenge to the next trial-goer!"

Hau rolled his eyes. "Greeeat. Now I gotta fight Meta Knight of all people." Lillie found humor in that one, while the joke flew over Reimu's head since this was her first encounter with anything Kirby-related. But Reimu was still glad: even if Mimikyu's new persona wasn't entirely original, she saw how it rose up as a leader of its kind, and that's all she cared about.

After dinner, they spent the rest of the night telling each other stories. Even though it was the Aether House, Lillie took comfort in the fact that these employees were renegades who sympathized with her plight and lied through their teeth to keep her whereabouts hidden from Lusamine, which was why she came here sometimes when she visited Ula'Ula. For her part, Reimu had begun to suspect that her and Lusamine were somehow connected based on the clues that were getting dropped, but refrained from pressing the matter further than Lillie was willing to discuss out of respect. For now, they just enjoyed sharing funny moments, sad moments, and some weird moments too.

Just before bed, the trio came up with their plan for tomorrow: Lillie and Hau would each clear their Ghost trial (Reimu gave them some forewarning on what to expect, including the laughing Sawsbuck head), then they would set out to find the Kahuna who lived somewhere on the island's west coast. Along the way, Reimu wanted to check out the Lake Of the Moone to see if she could find any leads pointing her toward Solgaleo or Lunala, which they all unanimously agreed upon. They also decided a couple day's rest would be appropriate before making tracks to Poni Island to complete the challenge; Reimu insisted upon visiting the Altar of the Sunne while they were there, too. Once they were through with their challenge, Reimu figured she could devote her time solely to finding clues on how to get back if the journey failed to produce any by then.

But seriously, if she thought today was nuts, it wouldn't hold a candle to what would transpire over the next five days.


	36. Assembly

The temperature may have risen a bit once again, but Yuuka made sure to stay classy and cool, and ensure her flowers were as well. Strange as the past few days may have been, she found them surprisingly productive: her new bug friend had proven to be excellent help in keeping the flowers fed and healthy, and could be sated with fine flower nectar if blood from a recent kerfuffle was unavailable. And she also managed to capture Seija for herself, who was currently being held in place in the basement by vines; it helped that her contrarian nature made her easier to restrain. All in all, things were going pretty well for her, and the incident proved to be quite entertaining, especially with all the people coming to her trying to find clues.

Yuuka was in the middle of her afternoon tea when she heard a knock on the door; unusual, as she had very few visitors brave enough to come visit. "Coming," she said politely as she put her cup down to go answer it, assuming it would just be another person wanting to know about her bug friend.

When she opened the door, however, she saw no one, but looked down and noticed a hand-written note sealed with a yin-yang stamp. Picking it up, she recognized the handwriting as Yukari's. The deliverer of the note was not apparent, but a black dot that look a bit like Aya's silhouette could be seen speeding off into the distance. Yuuka shrugged and read the note:

"Dear Yuuka Kazami,

It is our understanding that you are currently harboring an extra-dimensional creature at your house. Per the request of myself and the other two sages, you are to come to the meeting being held at the Scarlet Devil Mansion tomorrow night at 6 P.M. to answer questions related to it. Please bring the creature with you if possible. We also ask that you bring Seija Kijin with you so that we can dispose of her and pay out the reward to you.

With all due respect,

Yukarin"

Well now, she thought, things were getting serious: the youkai sages as a group were asking her to come down with the bug and answer questions. Ah well, it couldn't be helped if Yukari was the one asking, plus she had been planning on turning Seija in to claim the reward soon anyway.

* * *

A day passed, and Yuuka found herself leading Buzzwole to the mansion. Buzzwole did a good job keeping Seija restrained within its bulging arms, easing the burden on Yuuka. They flew most of the distance, but when Yuuka sensed Buzzole tiring of flying, they touched down on a path about a kilometer out from the mansion and walked the rest of the way.

Given her reputation, Yuuka exuded an aura of terror that caused fairies to scatter and flee when she came near. That she had a huge musclebound bug next to her did not help matters one bit. That worked for Yuuka just fine: less trouble on her way to important business.

Halfway there, however, she noticed a gray wall right on the path. Getting closer, she saw what looked like a construct of gray bricks, some of which turned around revealing a blue eyespot on them. It extended across the path and constantly shifted itself to prevent travellers from passing. Yuuka was fairly certain she knew what this was: a nurikabe, a wall youkai which impeded travelers in this fashion.

Thinking about how to deal with it, Yuuka realized she could just fly high over it, but thought it more entertaining to have Buzzwole demonstrate its power on this sucker.

"Mr. Bug," she asked politely, "could you please dispose of this trash for me?"

Buzzwole did not hesitate, winding up its free arm and then lunging forward with a dashing punch, striking the wall on the lower-left corner where nurikabes were vulnerable with a _smash _. Bricks scattered everywhere, both on the path and off, and the way was now clear.

"Excellent," Yuuka smiled as the continued. However, after a moment the blocks shook, then converged in front of her, building back up into what looked like a castle rampart supported by stilts. In the middle of the side facing her, a single blue eye flipped out and stared at her intently.

Yuuka instantly summoned danmaku-shooting sunflowers on either side of her and prepared a spell card while glaring at the rampart golem in front of her, unsure what this thing could do.

"Why you threaten me?" It spoke. Or, at least, it communicated to Yuuka.

"You're a strange monster who doesn't belong here," she said.

"Why you no threaten it then?" it asked, referring to Buzzwole.

Yuuka looked around at Buzzwole, thinking about how she and it interacted and she figured out its situation. Realizing her hypocrisy, she lowered her sunflowers and took a less threatening stance

"Because… you came so strange and sudden," she said in a conciliatory tone. "I apologize. Now, what are you exactly?"

"Me Stakataka. Me stack up and attack bad threats to me. That is my name." Stakataka's speech and tone were rather brutish, indicating it wasn't very intelligent, but at least it could speak, unlike Buzzwole.

"I see," Yuuka replied. "Now, why were you blocking the path?"

"Me pose as nurikabe to avoid suspicion. People scared of me."

"Is that so?" Yuuka mused. "So you pose as a scary youkai because your normal form scares them even more?"

"Scared people scary. Scared people try to knock me over."

Yuuka frowned. "Well… I certainly know that feeling. People label me as a psychotic murderer when really I'm just very protective of my flowers. And when I think about it, I guess I let that persona overcome me because of how lonely I am. I sure I'm not the only person who thinks that."

"You and me alike," Stakataka said.

Yuuka cleared her throat and moved to her next question. "Now, how did you get here? Did a scary monster suck you up into a wormhole and dump you here?"

It took a moment for Stakataka to gather its memories of the subject, before it answered. "Me from barren wasteland place with city ruins. Always twilight, sun gets bright sometimes and kills everything with radiation. I eat radiation. It is paradise. Then black diamond monster with big claws appeared and made portal. Me get sucked in portal. Me end up here. Black diamond monster tells me I anchor for Ultra Radiation or something. Me not know what that is."

Yuuka rubbed her chin. "An anchor for Ultra Radiation…" She turned to Buzzwole. "When you met that scary monster, did it say something similar?"

Buzzwole nodded. She turned to Stakataka again. "Alright. Now, did it explain how or why you were an 'anchor?'"

"Black diamond monster did not say."

"Hmm… alright. Well, how about this?" Yuuka suggested. "As it happens, we were on our way to an important meeting at a mansion whose path we are on right now. They want me to answer questions related to my friend here. I'm sure they'd also want you there to talk to."

Stakataka seemed hesitant.

"I know of a nuclear hell raven who can spawn suns and give you all the radiation you want."

Upon hearing that, Stakataka tore down and its blocks began rolling down the path toward the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

"That's more like it!" Yuuka clapped and smiled. She and Buzzwole, Seija in hand still squirming, kicking and clawing to no effect, followed the trail of bricks to the shrine.

Watching the interaction from behind a bush, Ultra Reimu took in what was going on carefully.

"Master did say it was going to be tonight," she said to herself. Her Japanese was a little better than her Pokemon World Standard, but still not perfect. "I should be cautious." Summoning Naganadel and hopping on its back, she made her way to just outside the Scarlet Devil Mansion and waited for the opportunity to move forward with her mission.


	37. Attack on Po Town

Reimu awoke from a strange dream in which she and Marisa were shopping together in Hau'oli City's mall and for whatever reason decided upon buying lots and lots of Teddie plushies and a "Make Japan Great Again" hat. Next to her, Lillie was still sound asleep, while Hau was on the floor sawing logs as well. Looking at her phone, she could see it was 3 A.M., far too early to get up and do anything. She was just about to get settled back in, when she picked up some sort of commotion coming from the other room.

Quietly, she got up and planted her ear against the door. Immediately, she sensed trouble when she heard two familiar voices belonging to Team Skull grunts:

"This is dangerous, yo! What if we wake someone up?"

"Quit your yapping, ya stonehead! We WILL wake someone up if ya keep flapping!"

"Alright, alright, I'll quiet down, yo."

"Just shut up."

"You shut up!"

Reimu deftly grabbed a Poke Ball and began to crack open the door, but as soon as it started creaking open the grunts panicked.

"Aw hell, bro!"

"Let's blow, yo!"

Once Reimu opened the door more fully and walked out, she saw that the front door was wide open. It was too dark to make out the grunts, and Reimu decided it wasn't worth pursuing them right now; most likely, she scared them off from whatever they were trying to pull. So she shut and locked the door and made her way back to bed. She could bring it up once everyone else was up later.

* * *

The next morning, everyone awoke to the smell of fresh scrambled eggs and sausage cooking in the kitchen, courtesy of Acerola. All the kids were piled up against the safety gate separating the kitchen area from their dorms, jumping and yelling while two Aether employees tried to calm them down.

"Alright kiddos," Acerola smiled. "Breakfast is almost ready." She turned and looked at Reimu, who was still brushing her teeth. "Ah, there you are!" Acerola chirped. "Hey, could you do me a favor and set the plates?"

"Sure thing," Reimu replied. Acerola also directed Hau to pour out cereal for the kids and Lillie to get some coffee and tea poured while she finished mixing the ketchup into the eggs and serving the sausage patties nicely.

Once everyone was gathered round, Reimu waited a couple of minutes while the kids shuffled into the other room before bringing up the burglary to avoid scaring them.

"Hey, Acerola?"

"What's up?" Acerola smiled.

"Well," Reimu began, "last night, some grunts broke in and - " but before Reimu could finish, a small boy, no older than six, came into the room sniffling and holding an empty Pokeball.

"...oh?" Reimu's soft spot sensed the boy's sadness, and she moved to try and console him, crouching down to his level and speaking to him tenderly. "What's wrong? Did you lose your Pokemon?"

The boy, clearly upset, looked up at her. "I… I found this open on the floor. My Pokemon was inside it. Did it run away?"

Reimu thought back, and did recall the sound of the grunts hastily stuffing what sounded like a Yungoos into a bag before they bolted. Realizing that had to be the boy's Pokemon, Reimu tempered her anger long enough to reassure the boy.

"I think some bad people took it," she explained. "But me and my friends will go get it for you. We're strong, those crooks will be sorry for sure!"

The boy hugged her. "Thank you, miss! You're as cool as they say!"

Reimu was flattered as always. "Thank you," she smiled.

* * *

A huge rock smashed a double-paned window in an abandoned building into dust, scattering the hive of Beedrill inside it.

"Those goddamn, _spineless _**_cowards!_ **" Reimu practically screamed. "Stealing from a kid in the middle of the night!"

"Uh, calm down, Reimu," Hau said nervously walking back, "I'm sure we'll take care of this just fine…"

Reimu and puffed for a while before she spoke again. "...yeah, I know. But _still _, they break in, at 3 A.M., and take a kid's Pokemon. They stole from an innocent, defenseless kid because they don't have the balls to swipe Nebby from us when they had the chance!"

Lillie looked in her bag to make sure Nebby actually was still in it, and realizing how close a call it had been for them not to steal it.

"Even so, should we really be doing this?" Lillie asked.

Reimu sighed. "Acerola did say the Kahuna was further up the west coast of the island somewhere, so we would have been going this way anyway. And the Lake of the Moone is there too." She then looked up with a slight glare. "But, more importantly, are you just going to let those sacks of filth get away with something like this?"

Lillie hesitated a bit, since she had always tried to dodge Team Skull due to the trouble they caused. But, given how much more confident she had become over the past few days, she felt it would be a disservice to let Reimu down now.

Taking a deep breath and strengthening her resolve, Lillie replied, "no. It is wrong. And it's time for me to stop running from things like this."

"Good," Reimu nodded. "Besides, Adele could probably atomize them if they tried anything funny." Both girls had a short laugh at that one before they pressed on.

They came to a beach, and across the rocky bay they could see a small beach town. Along the cliff face along the edge of the bay was a narrow road.

"Hmm, that road looks kinda trecherous," Reimu mused. "Perhaps we should cross the bay on a ride Pokemon instead."

"Alola!" a voice called out. Looking to her left, Reimu saw Sina and Dexio from the previous island in swimsuits walking towards them.

"Oh hey! You're those two from the other day, right?" she asked them. "Um… what were your names again?"

"We were sunbathing over there and overheard you all," Sina told Reimu. "More importantly, your face is all over the world at the moment!" Sina reached into her bag and showed Reimu the front cover of that day's edition of the Lumiose Post-Gazette, with the headline "Girl from another world rips up ski slope!" above a picture of her in 102-point font.

"Er…" Reimu blushed. Never in her life did she think she would be world-famous when she barely managed to scratch up enough donations to survive back home. Now she had enough probable money incoming to live a jet-set life. But that also meant she would probably be on the wrong end of a bunch of celebrity scandals going forward, and she was aware of all the rumors online swirling about her.

Shaking her head, she then said, "anyway, we were just on our way to see the kahuna and smash some Team Skull heads in. And we were thinking about how to cross this bay. I was just going to hop on a Charizard and-"

"Oh, c'mon!" Dexio said. "You gotta live life on the edge! Can I see all your Ride Pagers for a moment? I'm gonna give you something nice."

After whispering to each other about it, they three handed over their pagers, and Dexio fiddled around with them for a bit before giving them back.

"What did you do?" Reimu asked.

"Have you ever jetskiied on a Sharpedo before? It's so much faster than Lapras, it's really exhilarating, and they can even crush rocks out on the water! Me and Sina were out there in the bay just the other day having a blast!" He ran down towards the water, flipped out his pager, beamed out a shark with a huge mouth and a saddle on its back, then turned around and boasted, "wanna have a race to the town over there?"

When she heard the word "race," Reimu felt obliged to run down their, summon a Sharpedo of her own, and take off without so much as asking for an explanation. As she sped off, Dexio chased after her, not wanting to lose.

Lillie stood on the shore. "Uh, can I really do this?" she asked timidly.

"You can't rock it till you try it, sister!" Sina smiled. With some pressure from Hau, Lillie hesitantly summoned a Sharpedo, got on… and instantly rocketed off shrieking.

"Lillie!" Hau called out as he hopped on and chased after them. Sina, not wanting to be left behind on the shore, got on hers and raced out as well.

Out on the water, Reimu struggled to control the beast as it weaved in and out of the rock spires, but soon managed to figure out a way to keep it under control and used that to her advantage, using her skills from Maninte surfing, skiing, and to a lesser extent flying to do so. It wasn't long before Dexio caught up and started trash-talking her.

"Nice try, sister, but you're not gonna beat the champ!" he boasted.

"Careful, I'll exterminate you if I have to," Reimu retorted, before speeding up slightly and then swerving the Sharpedo ahead of him, catching him up in its wake while she diverted to the left. Out here, the rocks weren't as bad, but there were sand and gravel bars all over, and plenty of Krabby scattered about on them.

The morning sun was barely breaking over the mountain, orange and yellow beams radiating around Mt. Lanakila's black silouhette, and a purplish haze just on the horizon. The perfect backdrop for some high-intensity Sharpedo jet-skiing. As she sped along watching Dexio bite ocean in her wipeout, Reimu herself took in a lungful of sweet, salty ocean air, practically giving her life and resolve to weave in and out of the rocks, even if Sharpedo just ate most of them anyway.

The shore was just in sight. Just a little more, she thought. A little more pedal to the medal and she could show these losers how it was done.

"Don't get any ideas," Lillie's voice called out.

Looking to her left, Reimu saw Lillie, right next to her and staring her down. Even Nebby, who had gotten out of its ball, peek up out of the bag and tried to intimidate Reimu even though it really couldn't.

"Wanna try it?" Reimu dared. Lillie's response to that? She flashed a mischievous, fangy smile before kicking her Sharpedo and speeding forward.

A smile that was almost exactly like the ones Marisa would often flash when getting dangerous, Reimu realized.

She wasn't going to let Lillie win, however. She had already resolved to win the race. So she sped up her own Sharpedo and lunged ahead, dodging rock spires and leaving over snapping Bruxish, barreling toward the shore with reckless abandon and a will NOT to lose. In no time, she and Lillie were side-by-side, playing chicken with the beach as neither one showed signs of conceding. Sixty meters, then fifty, forty, thirty, twenty, ten, five…

"Oi!" Hau came out of nowhere on the beach and waved at them smiling.

"GHAAAAH!" The two girls freaked out as the Sharpedos abruptly stopped to avoid hitting him, sending them hurtling through the air screaming right toward the Zygarde Cell Research Lab. Before they could actually splat against it, though, they were caught, still with a screaming expression on their face, by Raichu's Psychic.

Hau walked over and petted him on the head before giving him a Malasada. "Wow, that was nice! Y'know, if we hadn't finished first, Reimu and Lillie would have been in a lot of trouble!"

* * *

"That sucked," Sina complained wringing out her shirt.

"I didn't think I was that rusty," Dexio admitted scratching his neck.

Reimu puffed. "And I couldn't believe Hau got here before we did!"

"Hey, I found a shortcut."

Everyone just kind of looked at him for a few seconds before getting back to the topic at hand.

"...sooooooo then," Sina said changing the subject, "why don't we show you all about Zygarde cells?"

Reimu tapped the glass tube containing a strange rock plus an odd, worm-like critter with one eye and a red crystal-like "heart." It turned to look at her, before going back to doing its own thing.

"Yeah, what is this thing?" she asked them pointing to the rock.

"Well," Dexio began, "the rock is a special keystone dug up from Terminus Cave just after the incident four years back in Kalos."

"Could you shed some light on that for me?" Reimu asked him. "I've gathered bits and pieces here and there, about something about Life, Death, and Order, and that it was pretty crazy…"

"Well, I mean, people DID die. Certainly Calem, Serena, Trevor, Tierno and Shauna almost did when the Ultimate Weapon collapsed in, and they only got out because of Zygarde. Basically, Team Flare was trying to summon Xerneas and Yveltal, the avatars of Life and Death respectively and worshipped beings in Kalos, to use their power to boot back up the Ultimate Weapon after they dug it up from under Genosage and got it working again. They were really messed up: they thought that they were some kind of 'ultimate race' fated to rule the world, and so they wanted to use the weapon to wipe out all life besides them, then restore it in their own image so that Lysandre, their leader, could rule over it."

Reimu wracked her brain trying to recall that one time she read a book translated by Kosuzu about someone named "Hitler" who tried to do basically the same thing. The idea of someone wanting to cleanse the world of their twisted view of "impure humans" sickened her. She couldn't wait to hear how the story ended just to see what Lysandre's comeuppance was.

"By the time they got there, the SWAT team called to deploy there. I think a few helicopters and armored vehicles actually got there in time to see the show. Anyway, so they used the power of the two legendaries to try and boot the weapon up, but they were interrupted when two green things - Zygarde cores - that Calem and Serena had just so happened to pick up began glowing and amassing power, which we later found out were Zygarde cells. They then merged into one being, a massive, mecha-like monster that cut the power lines to the weapon and caused it to short-circuit. It then blew a hole in the base which it used to guide the group as well as Xerneas and Yveltal out just as the weapon began to backfire. Once they were out, it used its cells to create a barrier which it reinforced with the land from the ground. The weapon then just EXPLODED, levelling the whole town and taking all of Team Flare with it. I saw it from a mountaintop because me and Sina were out hiking that day trying to find a piece of Sablenite for Professor Sycamore, and it looked like a nuke or a meteor or something. We dropped what we were doing and rushed over, and were _soooo _relieved when we found them alive. We were there just long enough to see Zygarde, before it split off and went in all directions. I guess it thought its job was done. After that, Calem and Serena battled and caught Xerneas and Yveltal, respectively, and both went on to conquer the league."

"Oof, that's a lot," Reimu said. "And how are they now?"  
"Married with a baby girl," Sina smiled. "They named her Mystia, and actually the birth announcement was a couple hours before you got dumped off here in Alola."

They named her Mystia? Seriously? Hopefully her voice won't cause night blindness if she pursues singing. Or punk rock. Seriously, Reimu always thought her and Kyouko's music was garbage. It didn't help that they were idiots, either. At least Mystia made a killer eel.

Getting back to the subject at hand, she asked them, "so, what's this thing then?" pointing to the worm-like thing.

"That's one of the Zygarde cores."

Reimu's eyes widened. "For real?"

"Yeah, so, after the incident, Professor Sycamore gave us an assignment: he wanted us to learn more about Zygarde, and more specifically its wherabouts. We took that keystone with us and went all over the world trying to find clues. We went all sorts of different places: Kanto, Johto, Orre, Hoenn, Fiore, Galar, Novograd, Unova, Ferrum, but wherever we went we drew blanks. On a whim, Sina asked if we could take a short vacation here in Alola. It wasn't meant to be much more than a short break, but a couple hours after we left the airport we found a Zygarde Cell on the keystone. By the end of the day when we checked into our room, it had about four of them. And the very next morning, we were lucky enough to discover this core, and that's when we knew Zygarde was here in Alola. We were fortunate to find some Aether Scientists who were interested in Pokemon biology, so they gave us this lab to study them in. We decided to just move here as a result; we live in that small house out back."

Lillie came forward and asked them, "can I show you something?"

"Absolutely," Sina smiled. And with that, Lillie sent out her 10% Zygarde, who sat faithfully like a real obedient dog.

"Oh, whoa, hold on!" Dexio fumbled. "I gotta get a picture of this!" He whipped out a high-quality camera and took several pictures from different angles. Putting the camera away, he excalimed, "I knew that Zygarde Cube would be effective, but I wasn't expecting it this fast!"

"This is incredible!" Sina said. "The Professor will love this!"

"It appeared like that when we battled the thing causing the blizzard," Reimu commented.

"Nice," Dexio said. "I figured you three were the ones who did it. It must be pretty strong, right?"

"I suppose," Reimu answered, "but I sense it's not anywhere near its full power."

"Oh, heavens, no," Dexio replied. "That's a pipsqueak compared to the monster that destroyed the Ultimate Weapon. But, it's amazing nonetheless."

"Yeah," Reimu siad. "I gave that cube to Lillie because at the time I thought she could use a strong Pokemon more than I did." Lillie produced the cube. "But… what exactly IS that thing, and what is Zygarde in general?"

"Glad you asked," Sina said tipping her sunglasses. "Zygarde is a Pokemon said to bring order and balance to the world, and appears whenever that balance is threatened. It's often associated with Xerneas and Yveltal because keeping the balance between life and death is so important, but we think it might be a keeper of the world in general, a being that spreads all over as cells and manifests at will to deal with threats. Tales from Hoenn during Kyogre and Groudon's duel sometimes mention a 'hexagonal titan' fighting alongside Mega Rayquaza which we assume to be Zygarde, since its cells are hexagonal. During the Great War, soldier's logs often mentioned 'devil dogs of green and black' attacking war camps on both sides; perhaps they were like this dog here, and were trying to get rid of the soldiers seeing them as a 'pathogen of the world' of sorts. A century ago, when pollution was at its worst and carbon levels were high, there were urban legends of similar 'devil dogs' attacking coal power plants and chemical factories, to the point where several of them began keeping Ice-type Pokemon on hand since they were said to be effective against them. And as we said before, it was also seen aiding the Tapu against Necrozma when it first revealed itself at the Prince's wedding. Whatever the stories may be, not much is really known about Zygarde, and that mecha-construct that was at the Ultimate Weapon is so far the only time in recent history that Zygarde has been seen like that, and the two of us believe its because it only assumes that form to face extremely dire threats to the world."

Dexio picked up the spiel. "That's not all. According to both Kalosian and Alolan legend, Zygarde is hardly seen at all in times of peace, but sightings of cells pick up when some sort of balance is disturbed, usually threats to nature and the world as a whole. Sightings have shot up here in Alola in the past three years, but there have been no reports of them anywhere else in the world. That must mean that Zygarde thinks something huge is in the works, and given your appearance here through that wormhole and those 'Sphere Doomers,' if that's the case it might be right; we did tell you, after all, that stories say it bases here awaiting Necrozma's return. We also know that a few days from now is the 500th anniversary of Prince Kamehameha getting banished by Necrozma, according to some native Alolans we talked to; it's nothing solid, but that could be significant."

Reimu crossed her arms and looked aside. "I'm starting to think that museum in Hau'oli city got a lot of things about Necrozma wrong."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Sina answered. "Necrozma's the sort of thing that gets swept up in rumors. Don't take my word for it, go look at the conspiracy sites yourself when you get time. We know Hala, and he says he's tried to get them to change it several times, but they won't do it because they think it would scare patrons." Sina then directed the conversation back to the original subject. "Anyway, the Zygarde Cube. So, we told you about how this keystone attracts cells and cores, but we realized it would be risky to lose or damage it. So, we worked with the biologists and some engineers to analyze the signals it gives off attracting the cells, then handed the data over to Professor Sycamore, who has more resources for this sort of thing. It took time, but he eventually made the Zygarde Cube, which replicates the keystone's effect."

"That's nice," Reimu commented, "but one inconsistency: you told me a few days ago you were just here vacationing, but now you're saying you live here?"

Dexio got up closer to Reimu's ear and whispered, "...it's… kind of a reflex at this point."

"Reflex?" Reimu asked.

"I told you these employees are renegades? Well, here's the thing: the reason is because the Aether Foundation is dangerous."

"Hmm?"

"Shortly after we moved here, we were harassed by some of their scientists hounding us for info on Zygarde and Necrozma. We shoo'd them off, but it happened again soon after. We've been keeping a low profile since then, and we don't go out in public much; we habitually say we're tourists to try and ward off unwanted attention. In fact, we once spent a whole year not once leaving the area you can see from this lab for that reason, only so we can continue our research."

Reimu took this in for a moment before asking, "is it illegal?"

"Let's just say the Foundation wants that research under any circumstances. And there's only so much the law can do to help us, because of how much clout they have and how much corruption they've caused in this region. And it's almost impossible to approach them directly, since they've got basically the entire Kirisame political and money machine behind them; the Kirisames almost control the world, and can shut down just about anything that crosses them by either bribing them or influencing connections to cut their funding or support. They're not always like that, though, and in fact the Kirisames are mostly a force for good; they ended the environmental crisis decades ago, for example. The Aether Foundation went rogue a few years back, though, and they can rope the Kirisames into doing anything for them. Again, Zygarde figures something's up?"

Reimu cocked an eyebrow as Lillie behind her began to visibly panic. "Wait, Kirisame?" She turned around to face Lillie. "You know something I don't?"

Lillie shook for a few seconds before exhaling and shaking her arms, before coming forward. "Alright, you got me. I'll tell you the whole story." Reimu stood by expectantly.

"My mother is the president of the Aether Foundation, Lusamine Margaret Aether-Kirisame. I've danced around the details long enough, but now I will tell you in full. The Aether Foundation operates a lab looking to Ultra Wormholes; that was, in fact, its original purpose, but it's top-secret; the conservation aspect is a cover to keep the public from knowing. They started as a government lab headed up by my great-grandfather, Dr. Homer Aether II, a well-respected physicist. His son, my grandfather, Claudius Aether continued his work and also built ties with the Kirisames on top of being a successful tycoon in his own right, building Aether Paradise to continue the research as well as introducing the conservation program, which he was always big into. Mother was his only child, but she proved to have a big brain from a young age: she has an IQ of 166 and graduated from school when she was only fifteen. She met my father when they were both physics students looking into Ultra Wormholes. Mother used to be kind, wise and understanding person who would tell us stories about how she kept father out of trouble back in college.

"But, a few years ago, she began to… change. Nobody knows what happened, but she became controlling and to some extent abusive. She always made wormhole research a priority after they disappeared, but she soon became obsessed with it. Burnet used to intern under her, but broke off and started her own lab, the Dimensional Research Lab, when things started getting bad. My brother Gladion made off with one of their experiments two years ago and has been wandering around ever since."

"Experiment?" Reimu asked. "You mean that weird chimera thing that he uses in battles?"

"Yes, that," Lillie explained. "It's called Type: Null, and it's a failed project that was designed to counter threats from beyond wormholes called 'Ultra Beasts.' I heard from Hau that you were attacked by one when you two vistited there."

"Yeeeeeah, let's move on," Reimu said.

"Oh, sorry about that," Lillie apologized. "Anyway, Nebby and Stardust both are 'Cosmogs,' another type of creature from beyond the wormholes which can actually create them. The scientists found Nebby one day by sheer chance and immediately began experiments on it. But I couldn't just let them torture it, so I broke into the lab when mother was away on business and stole it. After I did, I was ambushed, but Nebby teleported us both to just outside the professor's house, and they offered me to stay for the night. The police came later, of course, but after I explained my situation they let me stay there full-time. They knew about mother for some time, but like Sina and Dexio said, they can't really do anything about it."

Reimu was furious. What kind of person would do all of that to their kids? Sure, she lost her husband and other daughter, but were they really worth obsessing that hard over? The way she was basically immune to the police was also rage-inducing. It would be like if someone in Gensokyo with connections kept her from solving incidents. For all they knew, Lusamine's husband and child were long-gone and probably dead.

Unless…

Reimu shook her head. "Thank you for telling me all that, Lillie. Now I understand much better."

"Thank you for listening and understanding," Lillie bowed.

"Oh please, you don't have to be that polite around me," Reimu giggled before straightening back into a stern look. "Regardless, her actions aside, it sounds like the lab at Aether Paradise could have tons of useful information for me. I would like to return there once we get done with this job and do the Grand Trial to see what I can find."

Sina peeked over her glasses and told her "you know they're prolly gonna jump you and grind you to specks once they realize what you're up to."

"I don't care," Reimu countered. "What they're doing is illegal and unethical, and I'm willing to do what it takes to solve this mystery and get home. Plus, they'll probably put up no more challenge than what I've faced up to this point." She turned to face Lillie and Hau. "Am I right?"

Lillie got visible cold feet and hesitated. "I… yes, I do understand, but… I don't think I should go back just yet."

Hau gulped and agreed. "Er, yeah, it sounds scary, breaking into somewhere."

Reimu nodded. "I actually thought as much."

Lillie's eyes widened. "Wait… you're gonna go alone?"

"It's the only way," Reimu conceded. "I have to do what I need to do to make sure I get home."

Everyone was silent. Would she be okay, even with her skills? What if she was caught? What then?

"We can discuss it more once we get this all over with," she said. "That little boy is waiting on us."

"Oh, right," Hau answered jumping up. Winding up his arm, he said, "let's go crush 'em!"

Lillie was still silent.

"Hm? Something wrong?" Reimu asked.

Lillie stepped forward a bit. "Urm… I'm not afraid to do this, but… I don't think it's safe to take Nebby with me. They're looking for it, and Nebby tends to get out of the bag, unlike Stardust who seems more obedient."

"Can it be put in the PC?" Dexio asked.

"Maybe, let me check." Lillie used a nearby PC and accessed her box. After a minute or two and a couple error messages, it was done. Nebby was deposited.

Lillie turned around and smiled. "That's a box Nebby CAN'T get out of."

"Glad to see you're not fretting about it," Reimu told her. "Now, let's get going. We shouldn't keep the kid -" She looked at the glass tube and noticed the Zygarde Core was missing from it. "Er, where'd it go?"

"Hm?" Dexio wondered. "Oh, the Zygarde Core? It must have slipped into Lillie's Zygarde Cube while we were talking."

Lillie looked at the Cube, and saw a red symbol glowing on it that wasn't there before.

"It looks like Zygarde will be even stronger than before," Dexio commented. "Take good care of it. You'll probably need its power soon."

"Er, I'm sure I will," Lillie smiled blushing slightly. Finally, without further ado, the trio finally set out to show Team Skull the business.

* * *

Within seconds of Nebby being deposited, a hacker cooped up in a dark room underneath Aether Paradise was notified of the action.

"Nyeh heh heh," she cackled to herself. "Just as planned."

* * *

The shortest route to where Team Skull was said to be based out of went through the Ula'Ula meadow, a humid, misty place on the island's perennially cold, wet and rainy western side. Evidence of the blizzard could be seen in the form of some dead flowers and vines here and there, but for the most part one could scarcely tell it was any different. A boardwalk kept them above the flower beds where Pokemon tended to dwell, and interpretive signs were posted along the path, but in the race to get to Team Skull's hideout as quick as possible, the trio ignored these and rushed on through. No one was out today, so at least there were no trainers to slow them down.

"Geez, this meadow is endless," Hau huffed.

"I wish we COULD summon Charizards to get us through quicker," Reimu said, "but the ride pager won't let us because it's raining. Why couldn't they choose something that flies in all weather?"

It was then that a thunderclap could be heard.

Reimu had her own memories of dodging lightning and hail while soaring through Gensokyo's stormy skies, and so instantly understood it wasn't just the rain.

She shook her head and continued on with the other two. They knew the boardwalk eventually ended and the rest of the way was a dirt trail; supposedly, they tried to keep people from wandering too close to Team Skull's hideout, which was understandable. In her hustle to get through, she shoved aside Oricorio and Lilligant in her way with her hands while speeding down the trail in a way that reminded her of that night in the bamboo forest all those ago.

Stopping to catch her breath, Reimu looked down and said, breathing heavily, "man, this place is like a maze. They really want to keep people away from Team Skull that badl-"

She turned around and noticed she was alone.

"...shoot, I got split off." She was a bit irritated about having to go back; she got so absorbed in rushing through that she didn't realize she went down a fork in the path that took her the wrong way. Grumbling, she turned around and prepared to go back, before sensing an… ancient atmosphere.

Reimu couldn't quite put a finger on it, but her years as a shrine maiden combined with her latent aura and barrier abilities let her detect the presence of places with large amounts of spiritual energy from a mile away. Reimu knew she needed to get back with the others, but she silently found herself entranced by the siren song - or perhaps tribal chant, as it were - of a place nearby with a massive spiritual aura emanating from it. Slowly, she found herself walking further down the path toward its source.

She emerged from a clearing, and was instantly taken by the sight before her: a massive lake, with a stone bridge leading from the shore to an old, abandoned shrine in the middle of it.

"What… is…" she whispered to herself.

At this point, she found her legs were moving themselves, as she was drawn across the bridge and into the shrine's musty, moss-covered facade. The only thing inside was a long corridor leading to a light at the end. No Pokemon living in the walls, no wind gusting down the walkway. And, after taking a few steps in, no sounds of the outside world either. Just the occasional drip of water from the ceiling and Reimu's own footsteps were the only sounds to be heard.

The hallway seemed to go on forever. No matter how far Reimu walked, the light at the end barely got any bigger, meanwhile the entrance was nearly lost to the darkness behind her. She got closer, however, and bit by bit, the light drew near, eventually fading to reveal the place beyond.

Stepping out into this new area, Reimu sensed that she was in a place that seemed to transcend time and space itself. Above her was a starry sky, with a bright, full moon directly above shining down on a central stone platform covered with tribal markings - which made no sense, since she didn't think she was "outdoors" plus it was the morning; the sun had been in the sky for many hours. The area was steamy, and the distinctive aroma of midsummer night air percolated throughout the space and into Reimu's nose. Reimu herself could feel a sort of "calming" presence in the darkness, contrary to how darkness typically evokes fear. It was as if a guardian was there, telling her it would shield her from the nightly beasties and monsters. It was soothing to the point where it threatened to make her drowsy.

Walking up to the stone platform, it took some moments before Reimu regained her lucidity and looked around. She wondered what this place was. It was like little she had experienced before, on par with her trip to Makai alongside the crew of the Palenquin Ship. Perhaps she had wandered into the Pokemon World's Makai? It was certainly possible. For sure it had to be related to the legends of Alola.

She tried to look at her phone, but there was no reception here. She also tried pulling up Rotom, but found it non-functional here too. What an odd place, she thought. It really was like she was in a mysterious space.

She then felt one of the Pokeballs shaking. She instantly recognized it as Stardust's. There were no threats here, she decided, so she let it out realizing it was reacting to something here. Stardust wasted no time getting to the center of the stage, with the moon's light directly beaming down on its sparkly, starry body.

"Stardust?" Reimu said, worried. She tried to approach it, but was stopped by a mystical barrier that took the shape of a stylized moon. Stepping back, all she could do was watch and see whatever it was that was about to happen.

Stardust closed its eyes, and seemed at peace as the light intensified. As the moon's brightness grew, Reimu found herself covering her eyes and averting them because it was so bright. The moonlight reached its zenith, casting a white glow on everything and practically shining through to Reimu's very soul, before flashing and turning into a beam of intense, blue-white energy cast down from the moon onto Stardust. This lasted for nearly a minute while Reimu looked away from the light. Once it let up, the room's light returned to normal, but Reimu could hear a distant call that sounded like it came from some sort of astral bat.

Approaching Stardust to make sure it was alright, she found that it had changed: it appeared as though it were now a black ball with closed eyes, inside of a starry globe adorned with golden arcs that resembled both the sun's rays and the crescent moon. It hovered in place, not reacting to anything, and not having any expression.

"Stardust?" Reimu said trying to get a reaction out of it, but nothing. Stardust just floated there, ambivalent to the world around it. It was tiny, so small that it could fit into her hand - but discovered it had a bone-crushing amount of mass when she tried picking it up, and was so tough that nothing could leave a mark on it. Reimu wondered several things: was this some sort of evolution? Did it evolve? Or is it a cocoon stage for when it evolves into something else?

Reimu shrugged and decided to recall it back - it went back into the Pokeball just fine, which was reassuring that it could still be carried around in one. A moment later, Reimu noticed a purplish flute on a pedestal in front of her; she decided to take it, and, after ascertaining she wouldn't be cursed for doing so, turned around to leave. She knew she had to leave at once to go find the others, but as she left she wondered about this place she had just been and what had transpired - given Lillie's comments about Aether's research into Ultra Wormholes involving Cosmog, she wondered if this had anything to do with that.

She wondered if she had just taken her first real step toward solving this mystery and getting home again.

Stepping outside the shrine, she saw the other two emerging into the clearing, obviously looking for her.

"There you are!" Hau exclaimed. "We got worried when we lost you!"

Reimu sighed and responded, "sorry about that."

Lillie looked up at the shrine's exterior. "More importantly… how did you end up here at the Lake of the Moone?"

Reimu turned around. "Oh… so THIS is the place. It… was a lot different from what I expected. It was like…"

She couldn't really describe it. And, right now, there was no time to explain.

Shaking her head, Reimu said to them, "I can talk about it later. Right now, we've got a Yungoos to save."

"Right," Hau said. So they took back off down the trail.

* * *

It took a while, but they finally emerged out onto a grassy field outside of Po Town. The only road that came out here was forlorn and overcome with weeds, a sign that it had been abandoned for quite a while. But what caught Reimu's attention once they got out of the trees was the massive concrete and steel structure that rose above the sawgrass and palm trees in the distance, the only other building a smallish police station right next to it.

"What… the…" Reimu's eyes widened as she looked on, dumbstruck.

"It's… a long story," Hau told her. "C'mon, let's hurry over there." They called up Tauros' and rushed over to the structure.

Standing outside of it, Reimu looked straight up. It had to be at least twenty-five meters high, with beacon lights and razor wire adorning the top of the structure and prominent "KEEP OUT" signs posted all over. Team Skull graffiti covered the outside of the structure as well, a clear indicator of their marked territory.

Reimu didn't have words for what she was seeing. The closest she could come up with was something that Sanae and Sumireko had described to her on a number of occasions: some sort of high-security prison within which society's deplorables were kept sequestered from the rest of civilization.

"What is this place?" she wondered aloud.

"This… is Team Skull's hideout," Lillie admitted.

"How are we gonna bust in?" Hau asked both of them.

"Hey, you all over there!" said an older man's voice. Jolted, the trio looked over and saw an older man in a black jacket walked over to them. He had a prominently displayed police badge on the left side.

"Oh, uh, sorry officer, we weren't trying to-" Lillie stammered.

"The name's Nanu," Nanu said introducing himself. He examined the group for a bit. "Say, aren't you three that group I keep seein' in the news lately?"

"I guess you could say that," Reimu tersely replied.

Nanu smirked. "Heh, I suppose the headstrong priestess from beyond the wormhole would want to come here to beat up Team Skull at some point." He then dropped the smirk. "Still, what brings you all the way out here?"

"We're saving a child's Pokemon that they stole," Lillie told him.

Nanu rubbed his chin. "Ah, so playin' hero now? Well, I guess that works. Still, it would be dangerous for the three of you to wander in there all on your own."

"But we're strong trainers!" Hau boasted. "We chew Team Skull up for breakfast!"

Nanu retorted, "yeah, when they're alone and away from everything. But there, they got strength in numbers. They'll probably jump you the moment you step inside. But I'll tell you what," he said digging out a Pokeball and spinning it on his finger. "If you can your worth against me in a battle, all three of you, then I'll help you get inside."

Reimu flashed an evil smile as she took a daring stance. "Well, then bring it on. I haven't had a good fight yet today."

"Someone's eager," Nanu smirked again. "Alright, let's do it." He sent out a Raticate, which Reimu met with Lucario. Lucario's strength and agility advantage, on top of type advantage, proved too much for the Raticate, which went down in a snap of a finger. When he sent out a Krokorock, Reimu realized this guy only did Dark-types, and so kept Lucario out to deal with them. She thought about going Mega on them, but then remembered how draining that was on her, and given how Lucario was doing quite well without it decided to let him continue. Each of his other Pokemon, including a Persian which seemed to be his strongest, went down in record time.

Hau offered to go next, and immediately sent out Crabomidable, whose flurry-like punches were able to pummel the snot out of Nanu's Dark-types, at one point actually launching one of its fists like a rocket to do a remote shoryuken on Persian. Lillie went last; she understood Adele had the advantage on them, but not wanting destruction right next to Team Skull's hideout, decided to let Zygarde do the talking instead. Zygarde proved a formidable fighter, dashing around Nanu's Pokemon's attacks and even running up the wall at one point. Its main attack involved summoning energy from the earth which rattled it and burned the opponents, while its sharp claws and teeth tore away at them and dropped them just like that. Finishing with a move that assailed Persian with cells from its body, it howled in victory as it was recalled. Everyone was impressed by its power, making Lillie and Reimu wonder just how strong it would become once it had achieved its full power.

As he recalled Persian, Nanu took a moment to respond to the beatdown.

"Heh," he gruffed. "I guess you all are the real deal."

Hau smiled. "See? We weren't lying!"

"Alright, officer," Reimu asked him, "you promised us you would help if we won. What do we need to do?"

Nanu reached into his pocket and pulled out three pitch-black crystals from them.

"Hm?" Lillie wondered.

"By the way, I'm the Island Kahuna," he said bluntly. "Here's your proof for beating me."

Reimu was surprised, to say the least. "Oh. Huh," was all she could manage to say.

"What, were you expecting some kind of flashy ceremony or something?" Nanu said to them. "Truth is, I didn't exactly ask to become one, but the Tapu had other ideas, and the only reason I keep doing it is because apparently Tapu Bulu doesn't want to replace me until I'm dead. Or something. So I've been balancing it and work for the past thirty years or so. Real nuisance, if you ask me."

"And work is…" Reimu asked him.

"I've led the police force around this area for a long time, though nowadays it's pretty much just me anymore," Nanu replied. "And this right here," he said pointing at the concrete monstrosity, "is Po Town, or at least what's left of it."

"...there's a town in there?" Reimu asked.

"Long ago, Po Town used to be a leper colony, isolated from the rest of Alola because of how debilitating the disease is. Once they found a cure for it, they let the older patients die off, and they were about to dis-incorporate it when some preppy guy from another region presented an idea for a prison with a wall around it that functioned like a normal town, instead of locking up everyone in cells. So they got the bond money to refurbish the town and build the outer wall, and that started operation around the time I joined the force. Well, long story short, it lost a lot of money so they closed it down after a while and let it rot, basically. Team Skull decided to make it their main hideout around that time; up until then, they were mostly just vagrants causing trouble everywhere. Now they're a little better organized - just a little - but also easier to contain. I keep this station up to watch them and make sure they don't cause too much of a problem."

"So this is their main hideout…" Reimu mused. "...tell me, what exactly IS Team Skull? We've seen them everywhere, and I've gathered that they're a gang that causes trouble, but… how did they get started?"

Nanu cleared his throat. "They're basically just a loose bunch of down-on-their-luck young folks who got thrown out of everything else society had to offer, or at least they think that. They used to be a street gang in Hau'oli City, but now they're all over the islands. Most of them are kids who ran away from home for various reasons, either because they were rebellious troublemakers or they were fleeing abusive households. Orphans make up a large chunk of their numbers as well. Many of them are trainers who never finished their Island Challenges, and because there's a stigma against trainers who failed the Island Challenge, they take that very personally." He turned around to look at the concrete wall surrounding the town. "To be honest, I pity them, because almost all of them live in abject poverty and they can barely keep themselves fed. The most I can do is squat here and make sure they don't go out and cause serious trouble. For the most part, they don't - they might dabble in drug trades here and there for pocket money, but for the most part they just mess around in completely nonthreatening ways to the point where even the kids aren't scared of them."

He turned around to face them again. "Until recently, that is. Over the past few months, they've been getting especially restless, combing the islands like they're looking for something. That occupation of the gardens you all busted is something they would never do normally. It's almost like they're taking orders from someone else. I've opened an investigation into it, but we haven't turned up anything conclusive."

Lillie rubbed her chin and thought for a moment. "I wonder…"

Reimu turned to look at her. "What is it?"

Lillie shook her head. "Oh, it's nothing."

Reimu turned to face Nanu again. "So, about the Pokemon they have. We need to go in there and save it."

Nanu smirked. "Heh. So, you're still determined to dive right in there to fill a favor for a kid you don't know." He rubbed his chin. "I like your resolve. No wonder you've become so famous quickly." He shook his head again. "Regardless, there's something I wanna do before you all go charging in there. Come with me inside." He motioned them all into the police station.

"What does he want?" Reimu asked.

"I dunno," Hau shrugged. "I guess we'll find out."

"This looks absolutely ridiculous," Reimu protested.

"I agree," Lillie said. "But I guess we still need to do it."

"To be honest," Hau confided, "I've always wondered how I would look in one of these."

The three of them stood in front of a mirror, all dressed in Team Skull getup that Nanu had aquired somehow. Nanu insisted it was the only way they would have a lick of a chance of being able to infiltrate Po Town without getting instantly jumped by grunts. Surrounding them was Nanu's abnormally large menageraie of Alolan Meowths, all of them looking at them condescendingly and one of which Reimu swore was laughing at her.

As they made their way back outside and in front of Po Town's entrance, Nanu gave them one final word of advice. "Now, before you go in there, I have one last thing to tell you all," he said.

"What's that?" Reimu asked.

Nanu sighed. "Once you go in there, you either fight Team Skull, or you become one of them. That's how it works. I already have reports of your deaths ready to go just in case."

Both Lillie and Hau were made a little nervous by that statement, and they looked at each other before giving nods of encouragement.

Nanu opened the automated door for them, and let out his arm welcoming them inside. Reimu led the trio in with a dauntless look of determination on her face, while the other two nevrously followed.

The door led immediately to a dimly-lit corridor with no other exits bar the one at the end. As they proceded down, each tightly clutched the Pokeballs with their strongest respective fighters in them, unsure of what they would encounter at the end of that hallway.

But little could have mentally prepared them for what met their eyes once they emerged.

For a moment, Reimu just slowly strutted forward, looking around at the "town" around her. "My god…" was all she could utter.

The scene was downright post-apocalyptic. All around, grunts squatted atop old, rusty and vine-covered cars, buildings were in ruins with holes in the roofs letting in the drenching rain and the exteriors moldy, the ransacked remains of a Pokemon Center could be seen to one side, and overgrown hedges, kudzu and rotten, downed trees cluttered the lichen and weed-infested cobblestone streets of this place. About the only halfway-decently maintained structures in the entire place were the conspicuous mansion at the far end of town and the containment wall itself, and even then, the inside wall was covered in crap and rust compared to the relatively pristine exterior.

The place smelled slightly of death as the trio passed down the path to the mansion. Around them, they could see the deplorable conditions the grunts all lived in. For many of them, their only defense from the rain and the elements were well-worn tarps draped over shopping carts, boxes with metal foil duct-taped over them, or if they were a bit luckier, beat-up tents. Some of the more "well-to-do" ones lived inside the unstable structures or in the backs of one of the abandoned cars, and these were often cramped with only a couple square meters that each person had for themselves. All around them was litter, including some rusting cans, and at one point Reimu thought she saw a rotting Liepard corpse off to one side covered in flies. The Ratattas were having a field day, though, happily gorging themselves on food that the grunts tossed aside. At one point, they saw a male grunt pulling along a metal wagon with a black bag in it; the smell alone was enough to clue them in on the fact that that was how they got rid of their garbage, despite all the litter that was scattered about anyway. The smell was so horrid that Lillie almost gagged.

Walking along, they could sense the grunts staring at them, and even Reimu, who had dealt with far more threatening foes in the past, had to put on a brave face against their strength in numbers; after all, a bunch of normal people ganging up on you can be far scarier than one powerful goddess like Kanako, especially when she lacked her usual powers to deal with threats. But even more striking than those grunts were the ones chatting among themselves about various things, which gave her an idea of the challenges they faced daily. One grunt went on in length about how she found something of extreme value the other day in a dumpster, which turned out to be a box of uncooked rice, something pretty much any normal resident of Gensokyo could get their hands on for a song; if something like that was a luxury, then whatever they normally ate had to be far more substandard. And looking to one side, she could easily see that said "normal food" consisted of, if they were lucky, wild berries and mushrooms (hopefully they could identify edible ones), and if they weren't, roadkill, worms, and even grass and palm leaves. Luckily, at least one grunt had horticulture skills, since she saw a garden with surprisingly fresh tomatoes, carrots and berries growing in it, although the same garden was also being used to grow what she assumed to be cannabis.

As much as they wanted to talk about how off-putting the place was, they knew they couldn't because that would out them immediately. If nothing else, they had their strong Pokemon against their scrubs; if these grunts were like most, they were chumps. Hoping to fit in more, Hau even started imitating a "gangster walk" which one grunt even complimented.

Arriving at the mansion's front entrance, the only guard was one female grunt flipping a coin up and down right in front of the door while a couple others squatted atop a rusted tractor. The three approached her, figuring she was some kind of bouncer for "the boss." **No one** called him "Guzma," he was always "the boss."

"Sup," the grunt asked them. "I'm guessin' you wanna see the boss, huh?"

Reimu started responding, "well, of course we-"

"NO!" Hau shouted. Everyone looked at him like he was out of his mind.

"See, this kid's got it," the grunt told them. "Boss never likes anyone to be sure of anything, 'cause only HE can be sure of everything. So he can go on ahead. But you two don't look like you're able to see boss. Boss only wants certain grunts intruding on his mansion." She crossed her arms. "So if you can prove to me you can see boss, I'll let you through."

As much as Reimu wanted to blow her away in a jiffy, she knew that doing so would give them away and prompt a group attack on them, so she had to play along with their game for now. They had to prove they were able to see "Boss" somehow, but how exactly? They probably couldn't also just shout "NO!" and expect to be let in.

Reimu was still thinking when Lillie (!) walked up to the grunt. "Well," she started in her "rough" voice, "we might look like justa bunch'a stupid pieces uh crap, but I got some sick dance moves right here!" She even did the Team Skull pose.

"Uh huh? Yeah, most of us do," the grunt told her. "Prove it to us." Suddenly, a bunch of multicolored lights focused on Lillie, who was now pressed to show off her mad dance skills.

"Uh… hey, you!" she shouted pointing at Reimu. "Rock the mike!" Suddenly, a microphone dropped out of the air and into Reimu's hand.

"What the?" Reimu let out in surprise, but as another grunt hooked their phone up to the giga-sized speakers and adjusted the distortion, generic, lyricless rap music started playing as Lillie got down and revealed herself to be surprisingly proficient in breakdancing. Thinking fast, Reimu had to come up with rap lyrics to match the song.

"Uh, OK!" Reimu started. "Here it comes, straight from the dark side of Ula'Ula, the two girls, walkin' 'cross the… the boulevard, the ice on top, that shouldn't be there, blown right up dancer's skirts, it frickin' hurts…"

Good lord, that should be enough to make anyone's ears bleed, Reimu thought. She only knew rap from one CD that Yukari brought for show-and-tell once at all-you-can-drink mahjong night at Eientei and put it on as everyone decided to switch over to Cards Against Youkai once everyone was too inebriated to play hands coherently, and that was two years ago to boot, so she didn't have much else to work off. But she tried her best, and she got an A for effort, at least.

"...walkin' up, to KFC, finger-lickin' good, the backstreet alleys, they swarmin' with bees, my eyes swell shut as the cops beat me up…"

The music stopped, and all the grunts started applauding.

"They… actually like that?" Reimu asked Lillie. "Also… nice dance moves."

"Thank you," Lillie smiled. "I watch a lot of gangster movies in my spare time."

"That's… surprising," Reimu said. "What else do you like?"

"Well, horror movies too," she said in a prim tone. "I especially like the ones where they torture the victims when they're hooked up to buzzsaws pleading for their lives and -"

"You done good!" the grunt complimented. "You can go see boss now!"

"Yo! Let's go see the boss!" Reimu shouted in the dumbest voice she could come up with. As they walked through the door, Reimu whispered to Lillie, "remind me never to go see movies with you."

Inside the mansion, it was predictably decrepit, if slightly better maintained than the other structures elsewhere in the "town." Grunts were gathered all around engaged in idle chat, while the three decided to just head upstairs since that where Guzma likely was, assuming he was even here and not somewhere else. One upper-level flight of stairs was broken, forcing them to go up the other.

"I swear, this place violates a code or seven," Reimu grunted as they ascended the stairs. "Those shopping carts with tarps on them are probably safer."

They weren't sure which room was Guzma's, so they decided they should just check rooms until they got the right one. The first door was right in front of the landing so they decided to go there first. Trying the knob, it was open, so they just went on inside.

"...and you're ALSO a no-good slob!"

"What did you say?!"

"That's right! You won't clean up after yourself so I have to do everything for you! You're such a parasite!"

"Oh, look who's talking! You're always askin' me to go out and get all your food for you! Why can't you do it yourself?!"

"Because it's your job! It's also your job to do your own dishes! We set these rules when we became a couple, right?!"

"Bitch, you say that but I see you relishing in the scent of other girls when I'm doing stuff for underboss!"

"Call me bitch again and I'll -"

Reimu opened the door on the two female grunts. "Marriage trouble?" she asked them non-chalantly.

The two grunts looked at her and freaked out. "H-hey! Don't just barge in like that! Can't you see were havin' a private conversation?!"

Reimu crossed her arms and stared at them. "First off, if you two are going to be in a relationship, you both have to be willing to show your unwavering devotion to the other, which requires maturity and respect as well as a romantic bond, and that goes for any type of couple. Just because you're a lesbian couple doesn't change that; I know several from back home, and I've had to listen to them gripe about the other for hours on end."

They looked at each other like this was a huge epiphany for them. "Yo, this chick's got it!"

"Maybe we should try that from now on! Devoted to each other, you and me!"

"Yeah!" They held hands and walked out the room past Reimu, Lillie and Hau.

Hau was puzzled as to what just transpired. "What was that all about?" he asked.

Lillie held his shoulder and answered, "I'll tell you when you're older." Hau pouted. Adults always said that to him, "when he was older." What was it about stuff like that that adults kept to themselves? He just wanted to know, because he hated not knowing.

With that room a dud, they moved onto the next. The door was locked. Reimu tried knocking on the door. "Open up!"

The door opened. "Sup?" It was a male grunt on the toilet reading _Trainer Girlz _magazine.

"EEP!" Reimu slammed the door shut while her whole face flushed beet-red. She turned to face Lillie. "_ Okay _, maybe we should just ask." Lillie nodded and the three of them started looking around.

They surmised that Guzma's room was probably guarded, and upon spotting a door with a bunch of graffiti on it laced with gold-colored foil and with two grunts standing outside they realized that was it.

Approaching the door, the two grunts moved in front of it. "Halt, yo! This is boss's room! You got business with boss or something?"

"Just let us through," Reimu said sternly. "It's very urgent that we talk to him."

"Boss said not to let funny business happen today, after we took that Yungoos from the kid! He ain't got meetings with anyone right now, and he doesn't want meetings! Now, what kind of business you got, yo?!"

"Like I said, important business," Reimu said again.

"BZZZT, wrong answer! You gotta tell us what it is or we're gonna tell you to buzz off!"

Reimu glared at them. "There will be trouble if you don't let us in." She clutched a Pokeball tightly.

"Oh, goin' there, huh? Well, bring it on, punk!" the grunt dared as they assumed threatening poses. "We're boss's elite grunts! We're not gonna let idiots like you win!"

"...so be it," Reimu smirked as she let Lucario out, ready to challenge them.

The grunts stood there for a second, frozen in their threatening poses, before turning their eyes to the other.

"...you got somethin' that can hit a Lucario?" one asked.

"Er… no," he said. "In fact, all my guys are weak to Fighting."

The grunts dropped their shoulders and sighed. "Hurgh, FINE, you win." He unlocked the door to the room. "If you somehow have a Lucario, you might make better guards than us. But you'll never beat boss."

"Fine by me," Reimu said as the three stepped forward through the opening door.

Waiting for them just inside was Guzma, slumped on his "throne" spinning a Bugium-Z on his finger, with one grunt at his side. Hiding behind the grunt was Yungoos, scared out of its mind and shaking badly.

"Welcome," he grinned, setting the Z-Crystal down. "I'm surprised you made it this far without getting skinned by my goons."

Of course Guzma would see through the disguise; unlike all the other grunts here he apparently had a brain. Realizing they wouldn't be fooling him, Reimu and co. ripped off their handkerchiefs and beanies, revealing their true faces.

"Let's just get to the point," Reimu stated bluntly. "You sent your goons to kidnap the Pokemon of a small, defenseless child. A cowardly, callous and cruel crime that must be punished."

"Tch." Guzma crossed his arms and sneered. "Guess we're still playin' Cops and Robbers." He got up from his seat, and made himself imposing. "To think, you'd come all the way here just to challenge ME on MY turf. Not even the police will do that."

"Pssh," Reimu sneered. "You're nothing compared to the types of people I deal with on a regular basis. And you've already seen what I can do."

Guzma shook his head. "As I said before, I wasn't fighting at full power." He got out a Pokeball from his back pocket. "But once I get fired up, I'll show you why they call me the hated boss who beats you down and never lets up." He smirked. "That's me, Guzma."

Reimu just gave him a straight look, then looked over at the Yungoos, and the crate of lime-green Z-Crystals next to it.

"Hmm?" Guzma looked over. "What about the Z-Crystals?" He sneered again. "Lemme tell ya, I hoarded all of them myself. I am the king of Bug-types in Alola. They say it's a weak type, but to Hell with labels," he said strongly stamping his foot. "My goons will swarm all over ya and beat you down to the ground." Once again, he let out Golisopod, raring for a fight.

Reimu hunched and smiled. "So, we really are gonna do this the hard way? Well then, I suppose-"

Then she felt a tugging on her shirt. Looking over, it was Hau.

"I got this," he said.

After thinking it over for a second, Reimu shrugged. "Well, alright." She let Hau in front of her. "I suppose the son of the Kahuna of Melemele Island would like to have a word with you."

Hau gathered up all his courage and faced the Team Skull boss. He clenched his fist, then pointed. "I'm gonna show you my team's strength!"

Guzma wasn't daunted. "You sound so sure about that, kid."

Hau let out his trusty Raichu to go after Golisopod. "It's not just Reimu. It's all three of us. We can take on anything and anyone!" He pointed forward. "Now, go for it! Thunderbolt!"

So Raichu got on his tail and flew forward, ready to shock this behemoth to oblivion. Just as he was ready to shock it, time seemed to slow down as his psychic powers kicked in and predicted a punch coming from one of Golisopods huge claws. Dodging the First Impression attack, time picked back up again and he unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt. It wasn't strong enough to knock Golisopod out, but it did cause it to retreat.

Guzma, annoyed, sent out his other trump card: a huge, ice-covered mantis-like creature, also known as Slycant. Hau realized it would be unwise to keep Raichu out against Bug-types, so he recalled Raichu and sent out Arcanine to go after it. Arcanine was able to dominate Slycant, since Guzma was unwilling to order it to use Earthquake in his throne room, and none of its other moves did much more than leave scratches, meanwhile Arcanine torched it with Flamethrower, knocking it out.

Guzma went from being high-and-mighty to finding himself against the wall. He actually ordered all his grunts out of the area so they wouldn't see what was happening now. He realized neither Masquerain nor Ariados stood much of a chance against it. Hoping Golisopod could at least put it down with Razor Shell, he sent it out, only for the hulking Water/Bug to take one long look at Arcanine and then proceed to hide in the corner, cowering in fear as it covered its face.

Guzma was outraged. "C'mon, Golisopod! Quit bein' such a baby and fight that thing!" But it wouldn't respond. It just crouched there, scared of the huge fire dog on the other side of the room.

Reimu was shocked. She remembered her first encounter with Golisopod, and how it went back to its Pokeball on its own after taking enough damage, and it did the same thing here again. Was this why, she wondered? Was it really a big baby underneath all that armor? Or perhaps… was Guzma abusing it?

Guzma, still fuming at Golisopod's refusal to fight, was at the end of his fuse. "C'mon, DO SOMETHING!" he shouted as he moved to slap it back into action… but as he went to hit it, a hand caught his arm.

He looked over. It was Reimu.

"Stop it," she said sternly. "Can't you see it's panicking right now? And all you're doing its making it even more scared." Gently letting go of Guzma's arm and moving to Golisopod, she took out a Rainbow Bean and offered it to try and calm its nerves. "There there," she said tenderly, "I won't hurt you. Your master's just mad because he didn't expect this. I'm sure he doesn't mean to hurt you."

She wasn't too sure if her words alone would help, but after a couple moments Golisopod sniffed the Poke Bean and slurped it up. It seemed to like it, because it got back up and attempted to puff itself up.

Reimu stepped back to where Hau and Lillie were. "I think we should end the fight here."

Guzma sneered while crossing his arms. "What, are ya giving up or something?"

"No," Reimu answered. "I'm suggesting you gracefully forfeit." She looked at Hau. "Not just for Golisopod's sake, but it's obvious that Hau here outclasses you easily." She looked at Guzma again. "Also, how would your grunts feel about their leader if he threw a temper tantrum just because he lost?"

Oof. Based on Guzma's expression, it was clear he hadn't thought about that.

"...feh," he grunted. "Fine." He made his way to the door. "Just take the stupid Yungoos with you. And feel free to take a Buginium-Z with ya, all of ya. You earned it." He left through the door, and emerged to an empty mansion; seemed all the grunts cleared out once they realized Reimu and Co. were here. Making his way to a quiet corner, he just stood there, idle, for a few moments as the three made their way down the stairs, with Sasha apparently appointed to wrangle Yungoos. Just as the doors to the mansion closed behind them, Guzma heard his phone go off.

It was a new text message.

Guzma smirked. "At least I didn't _have _to win," he said to himself.

* * *

The door to Po Town opened, and the three emerged to Acerola, Nanu, and the boy who owned Yungoos waiting for them. Almost immediately, Yungoos squirmed out of Sasha's arms and bounded toward its master.

"Yungoos!" the boy exclaimed tearfully.

Acerola smiled. "Nice job, you guys!"

"Eh, it wasn't too hard," Hau said swinging his arms around. "They look tough, but show 'em power and they just all run away from you."

"I, uh…" Lillie stuttered before getting her composure back together. "Something like that."

Hau elbowed her. "Oh, c'mon, you did great in there! I didn't know you could make yourself sound rough and all gangster-like!"

Nanu chuckled a bit. "Well, you're a Kirisame, right?"

Reimu looked at him. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's in their blood," Nanu explained. "Kirisames are known for a lot of things, but above all they're known for being condescending, talkin' rough and ready to throw down. Doesn't matter how prim and proper you try to raise them, they can slip right back into that if you provoke 'em. 'Course, there are a lot of men in the family, and even the females tend toward being tomboys, so I guess that's why."

Well, that was a good descriptor for Marisa, at least. She had _no _inhibitions, unlike Lillie, and she always did tend toward tomboyish and unladylike behavior, even though she dressed in that frilly witch outfit of hers. She even referred to herself with male pronouns on occasion, although said occasions did normally involve alcohol so Reimu took them with a grain of salt.

She shook her head, and attempted to change the subject before anyone got the chance to bring up her piss-rap. "Regardless, it wasn't too hard. I probably wouldn't want to hang out there, but it was easier than I was expecting."

"Maybe I should hire you," Nanu joked, before returning to his stern expression. "That was a joke. Seriously, though, you'd make a good addition to the International Police. If you don't manage to make it back home, I could make it so you at least had work here."

Reimu looked downcast for a moment, thinking about if she could really get back home. However, she remembered what happened at the Lake of the Moone, and that gave her some hope she could get back. And even if she couldn't, she was still determined to solve this incident, just to ensure that its culprit could be put to justice. That was her duty as a Hakurei Shrine maiden, after all. And she also realized that, given how well-liked she was here, that she could fully transition into society and live the rest of her life that way. Leaving Gensokyo without a Hakurei maiden to maintain the Border was an unsettling thought, of course, but Yukari was resourceful enough that she could probably manage to make things work out.

"Yeah," she said. Turning to Acerola, she said, "I think we should start heading back. Those grunts might have been scared off, but they'll be back."

"I agree," Lillie said, so they started heading back to the Aether House together.

* * *

They got back just in time for lunch: tomato soup and grilled cheese, which the kids all loved. Of course, the boy had to keep his sandwich out of Yungoos's voracious mouth, but he was just happy to have his Pokemon back.

"You're awesome!" Hau said through a mouthful of food.

"What did I tell you about talking with your mouth full?" Lillie scolded.

"Sorry…"

Acerola giggled, and Reimu smiled. The way Lillie doted over Hau like he was her kid was cute to watch. Perhaps it was just learned behavior from her trying to keep Nebby in the bag, or how Hau never really had a mother to teach him manners (not that Hala did a bad job, but there were some things only a mother could do). And the way Lillie moved to console him after their near-miss despite going through the same fall was endearing, too.

Acerola turned to the group. "So, how about your trials? You two did your Grand Trial before mine, you know that's not allowed~!"

"Er… is it not?" Lillie blushed.

"I'm kidding," Acerola said. "It doesn't really matter what order you do your trials in, other than doing all of them. But it wouldn't be good for you to forget to do mine, so why don't we go it after lunch?"

"That would be wise," Reimu said turning to the two. "Then we can talk about where to go from here."

Hau got a map out of his bag and looked at it. Each trial they had done was crossed off, with only Poni's being left to do.

"Looks like we only have Poni Island left to do," he said.

Reimu looked at her own map as well as her notes. "That's where the Altar of the Sunne is, right? I want to visit that place, since it might have clues for me and us."

"That shouldn't be much of a problem," Acerola commented. "You have to go in that direction anyway to take on the Dragon trial."

"Well, if that's the case," Reimu said, "then it's settled. We'll stay another night, then we'll head there in the morning. Sound like a plan?"

Lillie and Hau nodded.

"Sounds like you three are on top of everything!" Acerola smiled.

Lillie decided to cut in, "that reminds me, I need to go get Nebby out of the PC. Do you mind if I do that before we start the trial?"

"Absolutely," Acerola told her. "In fact," she pulled out a laptop, "you can do it right here."

"Excellent." Lillie booted up the PC and accessed her box. She put Nebby in its own box to make it easier to find, since she did also have a few other Pokemon in her box, mostly species which she planned on giving to the Professor later which she thought he might find useful. But when she got to Nebby's box, she wasn't prepared for what she saw.

"Hm?" Reimu noticed Lillie's flummoxed expression. "Is something wrong?"

"I… I don't see it…" Lillie said, concerned. She flipped through all her other boxes, but there was no sign of Nebby anywhere. "I swear, I made sure it would stay in the box when I deposited it!"

The other three huddled behind the monitor, trying to figure something out. That's when they heard the front door fly right open and a panting man coming right through.

They looked around. It was Gladion.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, huffing and puffing. He looked up at them, and saw Lillie on the PC. He regained his composure, stood up straight, and looked at her. "So… you figured it out as well, huh?"

"Figured… what?" she asked.

Gladion came right over, motioned Lillie aside, and pulled up Lillie's account history. There, he highlighted a withdrawal, timestamped about ten minutes after the deposit.

"Someone accessed your account after you deposited Nebby," he explained.

Lillie's face went white.

"...no…" was all she could say.

"There's more," Gladion said. He opened up a control panel that showed not only when each deposit/withdrawal happened, but which PC it was accessed from. Each PC had a unique ID number, standardized across the globe. Gladion analyzed the ID number, and plugged it into an app on his phone that allowed him to locate it. Showing the screen to Lillie was all it took for her to lock up and be rendered petrified.

"The hacker wasn't very good at covering up their tracks," he said. "Of course, I made this app myself and technically it's illegal, but that doesn't matter."

Lillie gripped herself, and was silent for a few moments. Reimu asked Gladion, "what is it?"

Gladion turned to her. "Nebby was stolen. Not only that, but it's at Aether Paradise."

Reimu was about to respond, when all of a sudden Lillie got up and, in a fit of rage, flipped the table causing all of them to jump up spooked.

"DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT!" she yelled. Acerola actually covered up one of the kid's ears so that he didn't have to hear Lillie's cuss storm. Even Gladion was shocked.

"Um… Lillie?" Hau asked.

Lillie took a few moments to steam down from her outrage, before looking back at them. "I can't believe it! I can't believe they hacked into my account to steal Nebby! I should have kept it in the bag!"

"They?" Reimu asked.

"Mother, of course."

"Ah," Reimu responded.

Gladion said to them, "indeed. It seems all this was set up by mom to try and get Nebby back."

Reimu was confused. "Wait… set up?"

Gladion facepalmed. "Isn't it obvious? They had Team Skull distract you while they stole Nebby right under your noses!"

"Hold on, hold on," Reimu said trying to make sense of all this. "Team Skull?"

"Yes, Team Skull," Gladion answered. "They work for the Aether Foundation. It's why they've been acting strangely lately. Aether claims they're against Team Skull's actions, but that's a farce to distract from the truth. I'm sure you've seen what they'll do for money, just imagine if something like the Aether Foundation waved money in their face. That's why I joined them, to try and find out what they were up to, and it didn't take me long to find out."

…

Of course. It was exactly the sort of scheme that Yuyuko and Yukari would cook up. They had Team Skull kidnap the boy's Yungoos, knowing that she, Lillie and Hau would go take it back out of principle, but also banking on Lillie not wanting to put Nebby in harm's way by having it in the bag on Team Skull's home turf. And it probably wouldn't take Lusamine much effort to find her box and have someone crack it and make an unauthorized withdrawal. It had a lot of moving parts, a lot of assumptions, and a lot of points where it could have been broken, but it worked. And if it hadn't, Lusamine was most likely determined enough to come up with another way, or even be willing to use drastic measures such as straight-up kidnapping Lillie.

"...she's dangerously clever," Reimu said. "Just what kind of person are we facing?"

Gladion sighed. "Someone who won't let go of her obsession. It's just like a prisoner: they don't want to be locked up. You give them the time and resources to cause havoc or break out, they will. Mom has tons of money, two doctoral degrees, and years of research into Ultra Wormholes. Nebby was a magic bullet for her, before you stole it. Of course she would do whatever she could to get it back, and she succeeded."

Despiration. It was what drove Junko to unleashed life-force-fueled fairies into the Lunar Capital just to get back at Chang'e, and the Lunarian's desperation in turn nearly destroyed Gensokyo. It was why the Moriya's stirred up an incident that threatened to take away what little remained of the shrine's worshippers. Reimu realized how volatile a person could become if they were at wit's end. When anything and everything became a viable option. When they would stop at nothing to achieve their goals, including revenge. You often couldn't reason with them, like they had been possessed by a demon.

Reimu knew that this was a difficult challenge with even harder context. All she could do was slump in her chair, wondering how she was going to tackle this challenge which she promised she would do on her own, now not just for her own sake but for Nebby's.

It was then that Lillie stamped her foot.

"We have to go there," she said, determined.

Everyone around her was shocked by that statement.

"Are you mad?!" Gladion shouted.

Lillie shot him a glare. "Mother is going to do something very bad to Nebby. I can't let that happen. Plus, I'm not a delicate little flower anymore, I'm a Pokemon trainer, and a strong one too. All thanks to her." She looked at Reimu, who was surprised, then flattered.

Lillie looked back at the door. "I didn't think Mother's obsession would get this bad. But looking back, I realized how much of a fool I was for not seeing past her irrational behavior. She didn't used to be like this. Obsessing over trying to get them back. I don't know what happened, but I need to put an end to it and beat sense into her before it's too late." She looked over her shoulder. "Reimu, Hau, are you two with me?"

Neither was too sure what to think about Lillie's newfound resolve to finally face her mother. "You've grown," was all Reimu could say. "And you're right. You can't run from the problem forever, and now you have to fight back when it matters most. And, I'm honored to be the reason you got where you are today." Reimu stood back up. "And I'm ready to fight with you."

Hau got up and walked over to Lillie. "I'm with you too, to the end."

Lillie teared up and smiled. "Thank you. You know how much this means." She then looked over to Gladion. "What about you? Are you ready to take our mother back?"

Gladion silently contemplated for a few moments, before looking back up. "I spent two years wandering all over the place getting away from her. I honestly thought it was hopeless, she was too far gone, and I was worried for your sake every day. But now," he said with determination, "not only has my own sister gotten together the nerves and strength to face her, but it's all because of, honestly, a gift from Arceus."

He slightly smirked.

"I docked the boat nearby. I can get us there in a flash. The real question is, are you ready?"

Reimu clenched a fist. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Bring it on," Hau dared.

Lillie took a moment to respond, but then said, "yes. We have no choice. We have to do it, to save Nebby."

Gladion nodded in agreement. "Then, let's go right now." He led them out of the house outside to a waiting motorboat. Just before descending the front steps, Acerola and the boy stopped Reimu.

"Reimu," Acerola said.

"Yes?"

Acerola gulped and nodded, "good luck."

Meanwhile, the boy came up with a fancy crystal.

"This is for saving Yungoos," he said. Reimu took it. It was a Max Revive. Reimu felt like she would end up needing it.

"I won't let you down," she said patting the boy on the head, before rushing over to the waiting boat. Once they were ready, they took off into the distance, unsure what they would face once they arrived.


	38. The Beast that Steals the Light

Alice did not sleep that night.

Being a youkai magician, of course, meant that she never had to sleep anyway, but she continued to do so out of habit. Given the revelations of that evening, however, and what was potentially in store for them the following day, she slammed together several high-power dolls capable of taking on anything, created extra spell cards for herself and Marisa, and at one point briefly considered packing the USAS-12 auto shotgun that Marisa had in her collection somewhere before deciding against it. The whole night, a very curious Voodoll leaned over her shoulder observing her make dolls. Alice did not mind: a doll-sized creature would of course be very interested in the craft of making animate dolls.

Alice was still hard at work when she heard a knock on her workshop door. Getting up to answer it, she was surprised to see Sunshine.

"Mom?" she asked. "Would you like breakfast? I cooked it myself!"

"Um… oh!" Alice hadn't realized it was already morning and the sun had been up for an hour. "Sure, honey! Just let me finish up one last thing!"

After cleaning up one last doll, Alice followed Sunshine back into the cottage. As they stepped in, Alice quickly smelled something good, and when they entered the kitchen, they saw Diancie flying around with a plate full of scrambled eggs and Ichigo putting the finishing touches on some sausage patties. On the table was a piping hot tea kettle, french toast with maple syrup and biscuits with gravy, and the plates and silverware were already laid out.

"Oh my!" Alice chirped. "You and your friends really outdid yourselves this time!" She sat herself down at the table. "By the way, where's Marisa?"

"Oh?" Sunshine pondered, before saying, "oh, she's still upstairs getting ready."

_Figures _, Alice thought rolling her eyes. Marisa would sleep in until three in the afternoon if you let her. But with a breakfast this good, Alice knew Marisa would be foolish to dilly-dally, particularly since not only was Sunshine herself a living vacuum, but all these assorted Pokemon were likely going to want some grub, too. Either way, Alice herself was hungry after a long night's work, and so was definitely looking forward to food.

Just as she was dished up and prepared to start eating, the telltale _thump thump thump _of Marisa barreling down the stairs emanated throughout the cottage. Alice barely looked up from her tea to greet her.

"Good morning," she said lowly.

"Morning!" Marisa exclaimed. "Ya notice anything different?"

"No, I-" Alice started to say, before looking up and realizing something _was _different: instead of the messy honey-yellow hair that she was used to seeing, Marisa instead boasted long, straight, and luscious platinum-blonde locks that went far past the base of her shirt. Between that and the piercing green eyes, if it weren't for the twin braids and the dress, she wouldn't realize it was the same person.

"Marisa…" she trailed off. "You look…"

"I know, right?" Marisa cut in. "This is what my hair usually looks like! After we chatted yesterday, I realized I was running away from the past rather than embracing it, and after what you said about me not having to lie to you, I felt way more confident about myself. So I changed my hair back to how it normally is!"

Alice paused for a few seconds to take it in, and then smiled, "well, I'm glad you've finally came to me as yourself." She paused again, then asked, "by the way… what's with the egg?"

"Huh? Oh, the egg," Marisa said looking down at the football-sized spotted egg in her arms. "The two dolls, eh… _left _this last night, and I've just been taking care of it."

"...I see," Alice responded, trying to cut the subject short. Marisa snickered a bit, while Sunshine was still confused as to what was going on.

The three of them, plus all the Pokemon, enjoyed a fulfilling, scrumptious breakfast together.

* * *

And they certainly needed the calories, too, since soon they went to embark on probably the most perilous wild-goose-hunt of their lives up to this point, not to mention Sunshine's first real incident - and given the stakes at hand, it was one hell of an incident for a first-timer. Everyone made sure they were on their A-game today, since they didn't know what, if anything, they were going to find. Rushing out the front door, they again contemplated taking along the Black Arwing, but decided that might be overkill in case today's hunt turned up blanks. So instead, they shot up through the clearing and into the skies above Gensokyo to begin their search.

Target #1 of the day, as agreed to the previous night, was Rumia. Since then, Alice had considered other people it would be worth interrogating such as Yuyuko, Sekibanki and Satori, but Rumia had to come first and foremost: there was too much direct and circumstantial evidence at this point for her to not have at least some connection, she felt. In any case, they would present their findings at the meeting at the mansion that night, assuming nothing major occurred before then.

Rumia herself was usually easy to find: she had a ball of darkness surrounding her at all times and usually roamed the meadow to the southwest of the Misty Lake, rather than lurk in the woods where her power would actually be useful. So the magicians soared above the general vicinity, keeping an eagle eye out for a conspicuous dark spot against the grassy fields, but today Rumia was proving elusive. They somewhat expected this, given that Cirno did indicate that Rumia was reportedly going missing for days at a time immediately prior to the incident, but that did not make it any less frustrating. Flying was energy intensive, so they had to take frequent breaks by the lakeshore itself to cool off from the pressing summer heat.

Eventually, they decided to do one last pass before canning it and looking elsewhere. Only then, after about twenty minutes of searching, did Alice point out to everyone the dark spot near the edge of the Forest of Magic. Excited at having finally found their quarry, the three flew down to confront Rumia.

They decided to land just outside of her vision and approach slowly to avoid spooking her and making her run off. Usually, neither magician considered Rumia to be much of a threat since, despite being an unashamed maneater, she was so hopelessly bad at trying to catch humans that a normal human could get away from her with not much effort, while also being so weak as to be target practice for most other youkai and empowered humans (Marisa felt Cirno was more threatening on average, or even just a sufficiently large swarm of normal fairies). Yet today, they both felt much more apprehensive about approaching her, given what may or may not be the real truth about her after the events of recent days. Sunshine too could feel her mothers' dread: in particular, she realized it was not normal for Marisa to be so cautious; not even facing the hell raven stirred this much fear and apprehension in her as this.

As they got closer, they began to hear whispers, which were soon found to be Rumia chanting something in a strange language.

"What is that?" Marisa nudged. "It's not Japanese."

Alice tuned a fine ear to the chanting, and after a moment turned back to Marisa. "It sounds like… English, almost, but somehow slightly different."

Marisa slumped. "Well, my English is extremely rusty. I don't think I've read any English in three years."

"It's been a while for me too," Alice admitted. She looked at Sunshine briefly. "Do you think you can make out what she's saying?"

Sunshine concentrated for a moment on the words, in order to get a feel for the language. Then, she did something unexpected: her eyes glowed red, and not a second later Alice and Marisa were subjected to searing headaches, with both collapsing to their knees and gripping their heads in agony. This lasted for only a few seconds, but it seemed like a few years to them.

Once the pain let up, Alice gasped. "Sunshine, what did you-" she started to say, only to realize those weren't Japanese words leaving her mouth.

She blushed, and covered her mouth. "Did… I…"

"I made us all fluent in the language," Sunshine said bluntly.

...what was the extent of her psychic power, the magicians thought?

That didn't matter much now, Alice thought. They soon turned back to Rumia, and lo and behold they could understand her with no trouble:

"_ ...the king received a tiny box, a box with the insignia of Kalos engraved on it, and instantly knew, the body of his beloved companion was inside. Grief-stricken and filled with despair, he vowed to end the war and prevent further tragedy and suffering. The souls of deceased pokemon. That was the fuel for the Ultimate Weapon, the weapon that would bring an end to the fighting between Kalos and the Novogradians… _"

"Cut the crap," Marisa butted in. "We know you're up to funny business, so spill the goods before I crack open your skull and pull them out myself!"

Rumia turned around to the trio. "Oh, visitors!" she said with a toothy smile and arms outstretched. "Can I eat you?"

Marisa sighed and rolled her eyes. "Are we _really _going to do this?"

Alice stepped up to the plate. "We're here because we believe you to either be behind this incident or are connected to the perpetrator."

It took Rumia a moment to respond to this, before putting her arms down and dissipating her darkness field.

"Heh," she smirked with one fang hanging out of her mouth. She stepped forward to face the magicians. "So, I guess the Border Patrol comes after me now."

"You know?" Marisa said cocking an eyebrow. "I thought a dumb youkai like you wouldn't know about-"

"Gossip spreads quickly in Gensokyo," Rumia responded. "Don't you know? I heard about all the incidents… the bamboo rocket… the muscle-bound bug… the strange purple-tailed being that almost killed Sakuya…"

"The what now?" Alice asked.

"Oh? You haven't been told about that one?" Rumia said somewhat quizzically. "I found out about it from a fairy. They told me the battle was ferocious…"

"You know too much," Marisa accused Rumia. "And Cirno told me that you've been going missing a lot. She told me you were missing the day Reimu disappeared into the Ultra Wormhole."

Rumia's face looked somewhat surprised. "...so, you DO know what they are called."

"And you?" Marisa asked more forcefully. "How do YOU know?" She stamped her foot down on the ground. "I knew it. So you ARE involved in this incident!" She pulled out her Mini-Hakkero and shoved it in Rumia's face. "C'mon! Spill everything you know! Right now!"

Rumia lightly pushed the Mini-Hakkero away from her face. "I may or may not have been a fly on the wall last night when you two were discussing them. Or maybe I was looking through another pair of eyes…" She turned to Sunshine. "...it's difficult, but possible for one psychic being to use the consciousness of another without their knowledge…"

Alice's dolls drew their swords and pointed them at Rumia. "You… you're the one who's been hijacking Sunshine's dreams!"

"Ten points to Gryffindor," Rumia quipped. "And I'll say. What happened the other day with Xerneas… she turned out quite nicely, didn't she?"

At this point, Marisa just wanted to beat Rumia up. All this was too much for her. She wanted to pump every bit that she could from the darkness youkai right now, because even with these confessions it was obvious she knew more than she let on.

"Enough!" she shouted. "Tell us right now before I blow your head off! What do you know about Sunshine?! The wormholes?! Where is Reimu?! What is your plan?!"

Rumia closed her eyes and smiled. "You're right in assuming that this incident is my construction. Because that is exactly the case. And it was no accident that you two were the first of anyone to discover the truth. After all, I would only expect that the daughter of Mohn and Lusamine Kirisame would figure out the circumstances behind the mishap set in motion by Okina Matara fourteen years ago that brought you here in the first place."

Marisa gritted her teeth. "How… how do you know these things?! Did you make the wormholes?! _How _did you make the wormholes?! Why are you a psychic also?! You're just a stupid, weak darkness youkai!"

Rumia was quiet for a moment. Then she outstretched her arms again.

"Is that…" she said, her eyes glowing red, before a ball of light began to rapidly form in front of her.

Sunshine's eyes widened. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" she yelled. In one swift motion, she pulled Alice and Marisa aside just as the Photon Geyser attack rocketed past them. It was at this moment that Alice realized Sunshine was incredibly strong now as well, to pull two adults down at once in such a fast motion.

"...so?"

A distant _pichuu-n _could be heard as the pillar of light exploded behind them as the magicians got back up and faced her, wide-eyed.

Rumia glared at them and smiled menacingly. "You're right. There is no such thing as a darkness youkai. It was a concept I fabricated in order to fit into fit into Gensokyo better once I returned."

Alice looked at her. "Returned?"

"I used to live in Gensokyo long in the past before a tragic incident forced me to leave and turned me into what I am now," Rumia explained. "You're also right in that I don't create darkness. Darkness cannot be created, for it is merely the absence of light." Her eye glinted at this point, briefly turning into a red prismatic pattern before returning to normal.

Alice hesitated. "...what ARE you?"

Rumia smiled a more innocent smile as she reached up and lightly pinched her headband amulet between two fingers. "A being who steals the light."

Marisa stepped back. They had heard that the headband held back a hidden, stronger form. Was Rumia about to reveal it, she wondered?

Rumia held the amulet for a couple seconds before shifting it so that it was straight on top of her head, before slowly pulling on it. As she pulled, the amulet was shown to be connected to a glowing, multicolored crystal that slowly erupted from her head. Eventually, Rumia let go and her expression went blank as the amulet disintegrated and the crystal emerged on its own, floating in the air in front of them as Rumia split into black and white lights which orbited and then surrounded the crystal, drawing light into it and darkening the surrounding scene before flashing white in all directions, causing the magicians to avert their eyes and reel back.

As they looked back at Rumia, they realized her form had changed now. No longer was it Rumia. Instead their eyes were greeted by a large, floating, dark crystalline creature with massive claws that glowed blueish-white, and three spikes on what looked like a large, helmeted head.

"...Necrozma," Marisa said under her breath.

Necrozma let out a screech before shooting high up into the sky.

Marisa grabbed her broom. "No time to waste!" She chased Necrozma into the air to engage it, with Alice and her dolls, and Sunshine, Diancie and Ichigo not far behind her.

* * *

Two thousand meters above the valley floor, Necrozma stopped, turned around and faced the magician trio heading straight for it.

"You're not running away from us!" Marisa shouted.

Alice turned around to her. "Alright everyone, Marisa, Sunshine. We don't know what this thing is capable of. We have to fight defensively."

Marisa turned to Sunshine. "Hey kiddo, do you have some way of telling us what this monster is weak to?"

Sunshine had an understanding of type matchups by now, and so mentally scanned Necrozma looking for a weakness. After a few moments, she turned to her mothers. "Physical attacks and Psychic attacks are ineffective," she said. "But its weak to Ghost and Dark."

That seemed awfully wrong, both Marisa and Alice thought. Rumia was a youkai of darkness, and Necrozma was black in color, but it was _weak _to spirit-based and darkness-based attacks? That could prove problematic, since only Sunshine's Pokemon were known to sling those around, and neither magician was proficient enough in spirit and darkness magic to weaponize them. At the same time, they decided its resistances didn't matter much either: danmaku duels rarely involved physical attacks, which looked unlikely to crack its armor, and they didn't use Psychic attacks either. They decided it would be best to just use their best techniques and maneuvers to defeat it.

Alice kited Necrozma, sending dolls its way to test its reaction to fighters getting up close. Necrozma responded either by slashing with its claws, attempting to ram them with the spikes on its head, or using a telekinetic attack. It also demonstrated the ability to fire a dark ray, proving it had darkness attacks as well. It did not attempt to use Photon Geyser again; Alice surmised it could only use that move if it had a sufficient opening, which a frenetic assault of dolls did not provide.

Sunshine, meanwhile, went to work directing her Pokemon to attack it. Her opening shot was Diancie whipping up diamonds from the air and assaulting Necrozma with them, throwing it off balance and prompting retaliation.

Alice took notice and shouted to her, "I thought you said physical attacks didn't work!"

Sunshine turned around. "Oh. I guess I meant to say certain physical attacks, like punching or kicking it, since it can predict and neutralize those. Things like projectiles and attacks it can't predict don't count."

Alice meant to respond, but Necrozma charged at them forcing Sunshine to telekinetically move Diancie out of harm's way, so Alice focused again on her fight. She then thought to bring out Murdoll to assist her; if Sunshine was right about Necrozma being weak to a move it can't predict, then perhaps Murdoll could move in and launch a sneak attack while Necrozma was distracted. Alice instructed her dolls to keep drawing its fire in order to allow Murdoll a window to strike with its knife.

Alice realized she hadn't tried standard danmaku up until this point. Even though Necrozma was a swift fighter, it was still a big target, and therefore practically a pincushion for laser bullets. Opening up her tome, Alice cast danmaku at it and so did her doll familiars. Curving lasers, hollow bullets, and arrows, all of them bore down on the Prism Pokemon. At first, it seemed like it was working, as most bullets were connecting, before Alice realized that Necrozma didn't seem to be reacting to them. Looking more closely, she noticed that the bullets seemed to be being absorbed by it…

Of course! These bullets were light-based, and it absorbed light, so of course it would be nullifying the danmaku; actually, the danmaku was probably feeding it. Stopping the volley immediately, Alice realized normal tactics weren't going to work. She looked at Sunshine, and immediately saw that Sunshine wasn't using danmaku attacks, perhaps because she realized this.

Frantically flipping through her grimoire, Alice looked for any non-light attacks that she could use, but the only ones that weren't weak were magically expensive and/or too dangerous to use, either because they were explosive or invited the possibility of demonic possession. Looking up at the battle, and seeing how effective Sunshine appeared to be using her Pokemon, Alice began to wonder if that was perhaps the best method to defeat it.

Recalling that Misdreavus was able to use Ghost attacks, Alice turned to Marisa to advise her to use it… only to see Marisa chanting into her Mini-Hakkero.

Alice's eyes widened in fear.

"Marisa, don't!" she shouted rushing toward her.

"Aim at somebody you don't like…" Marisa whispered. Alice attempted to swat the device out of Marisa's hands, but it was too late: the massive, destructive and rainbow-colored beam of energy that was the Master Spark fired at full force, blasting Necrozma with all its might and knocking several dolls sideways; Murdoll just _barely _dodged it as well.

As the sparks cleared, Marisa grinned, confident that Necrozma had just been sent to kingdom come. "How do ya like THAT?!" she taunted.

Alice looked over at her. "Marisa, you fool!"

"Heh, why?" Marisa asked, before looking over and seeing Necrozma holding itself while electrical sparks surrounded it. It looked up at her, and glared at her.

It took Marisa a moment to process what was going on before Alice grabbed her and dragged her aside, just as Necrozma made a fist and punched the air in front of it, firing the Master Spark right back out of itself.

"Light attacks don't work!" Alice yelled shaking Marisa. "It just absorbs them to power itself up!"

Marisa looked aside. "Yeah… I realized that," she said sheepishly. "And I should have known better. But what else are we supposed to do?"

"We have to take Sunshine at her word," Alice explained. "It has to be hit by darkness attacks. We don't really have those ourselves, but if we rely on these Pokemon, we can hit it where it hurts. I think your Misdreavus would be able to help us."

It was then that Marisa realized what this fight was: a Pokemon battle. She had never personally conducted one, but her father often described them when she was young. He told her all about how trainers would let these creatures fight, both for human competition and because Pokemon themselves were always raring for a punch-out. Now, fourteen years after she had been flung far from home, here she was seeing one play out, and between legends at that.

Marisa laid down her Mini-Hakkero and decided instead to let Misdreavus out and let him do the talking. He wasted no time using Hex on Necrozma; he missed, but just barely. So Marisa ordered him to attack again, and this time it was a hit; Necrozma visibly writhed in pain and its hands briefly dimmed before relighting. Necrozma was angry, and started going after Marisa.

Marisa stuck her tongue out. "Catch me if you can!" she dared, flying loops and dives demonstrating her status as one of Gensokyo's fastest while Necrozma attempted to chase her. While it was distracted, Murdoll got the one opportunity it needed to unleash a devastating Night Slash against Necrozma's vulnerable backside, causing it even more pain and prompting it to spasm about.

Sunshine lowered down with Diancie, Beldum, Ichigo and Kartana at her sides, directly facing Necrozma. Seeing Necrozma weakened, Sunshine used the chance to unleash a new attack: putting her hands together, she surrounded herself in red-and-blue energy, which slowly built up in front of her before reaching the size of a watermelon, at which point Sunshine released a beam of twisting energy which formed the shape of a dragon's head, even roaring as it opened its "mouth" to "bite" Necrozma with a terrific explosion.

Necrozma was reeling, and its blue hands were clearly faltering. The magicians cornered it and drew their weapons.

"You've lost," Marisa sneered. "Now, tell us everything you've done and plan on doing!"

Necrozma didn't respond.

"C'mon, spill it! Or maybe you'd like to take this issue to the Youkai Sages?"

A few seconds passed before Necrozma regained its composure, letting out another ear-splitting cry causing the magicians to reel back. It then turned around and ripped open an Ultra Wormhole with its claw, escaping through it and closing the wormhole behind it in a flash.

"Damn it! It got away!" Marisa shouted.

"Probably because we were threatening it," Alice said. "It still had enough energy to escape."

Marisa slapped her broom. "Great, now it's running around again doing God-knows-what! We're never gonna catch it at this rate!" She turned to Sunshine. "Sunshine, ain't there something you can do?"

Sunshine shook her head.

"Drat," Marisa complained looking down. "Now what?"

The magicians floated there, heads low, wondering what the next move was going to be.

Then, Marisa looked up, and noticed a slight, electrical distortion in space accompanied by a buzzing noise.

"Hm?" she wondered, looking at it quizzically.

The magicians observed the distortion for some moments, before it suddenly ripped into another Ultra Wormhole, in much the same fashion as the one that pulled Reimu through.

"Another one?" Alice wondered. "I wonder… did something else cause it?"

"Doesn't matter," Marisa barked. "We're gonna catch that thing, come Hell or high water. We have to, for Reimu, for myself, for Gensokyo. I'm not gonna let it get away with what it wants!" She motioned to the wormhole. "Now, AFTER IT!"

She sped through the event horizon.

Alice sighed and rolled her eyes before following her friend through the wormhole, with Sunshine not far behind. The wormhole closed just as Beldum made it through.


	39. The Secret Side of Aether Paradise

Stormy seas were a frequent occurrence in the waters of Alola during the summer. The sky would turn dark-gray and gale-force winds would whip up choppy waves that threatened to overturn all but the sturdiest boats and freighters, and lightning bolts would bear down, cleaving the humid air in half and frequently striking down Wingull and other bird Pokemon caught out at sea at the time.

But, this wasn't one of those days. Instead, the seas were eerily calm and the sky clear all around, bar some thin, wispy clouds here and there. There were no other ships, no birds overhead, no fish in the water, no planes in the sky. The only sound that could be heard was that of water being parted by the boat that the gang was on, as well as the occasional chatter over the radio at the helm between some other ships in the area, but none could be seen.

As Gladion steered the boat, the other three all sat in the back, facing forward and with life jackets on. No one spoke, no one fiddled with their phones (there wasn't reception out here anyway), no one had any of their Pokemon out. They just stared, fidgeting somewhat, knowing what they were all on their way to go face.

* * *

It took the boat a while to get out there, but eventually Aether Paradise emerged from the horizon, and everyone steeled themselves. Gladion knew what Lusamine's plan was, and also knew that said plan meant that tours of the place were canceled that day. That meant no ferries or private tours, no planes flying in, no nothing. And it also meant no tourists crowding the place to witness what was about to go down. All that worked in his favor, of course, because it would have made their mission more difficult and awkward. But it also meant that they would stick out, which was why Gladion had already arranged for contacts within Aether to shield them once they got there.

Pulling into the staff-only dock area, the four stepped out, greeted by a friendly employee whom Gladion had talked to beforehand.

"Welcome back, master Gladion," she bowed.

"Feels good to be back," Gladion snarked. He got in closer to her and whispered, "the cameras are off, right?"

"I disabled the security cameras here, yes," she responded, "but I can't guarantee anything past here. Other employees are on guard. Most of them aren't tough, but it could draw attention to yourselves."

Reimu looked at Lillie and Hau, then looked at the employee and said, "well, I guess we have a 'nuclear option' if that happens," referring to Adele and, to a lesser extent, Mega Lucario. Everyone gave a nervous chuckle.

Gladion turned to face the group. "Now then, and I must make this clear. We are not welcome here. We are thieves."

_I feel like Marisa looting the Scarlet Devil Mansion Library _, Reimu thought in her head.

"Once we walk away from here and over to that elevator," Gladion said pointing to said elevator, "employees here are going to accost and attack us. I hope you all are ready for battle if that's the case. Also, there's a chance mom could call in outside help. We need to be careful and not blurt anything aloud, Hau."

Hau's eyes widened. "Wha-" He crossed his arms. "...fine."

Lillie was silent, with a mix of fear and resolve on her face. But once she nodded, that was the signal to start the operation.

The dock area was full of crates and parcels, which they ducked behind every now and then just in case. Occasionally, they would pocket things like X items, potions, and even a TM for Confide that people had carelessly dropped. Reimu, who was used to simply plowing through any obstacles in her way, was now forced to do her best "phantom thief" impression as they quickly darted from cover to cover, making their way to the triangular elevator that would take them to their target.

Once they were sure the coast was clear, they emerged to the elevator. Gladion went to fiddle with the controls, when a voice suddenly came from a room off to the side.

"Welcome back to Aether Paradise," the voice said. All four, caught by surprise, looked to see whose it was.

"...Wicke?" Reimu said, shaken.

Wicke emerged from the shadows, smiling and adjusting her glasses. "I didn't think you all would be crazy enough to try something like taking Nebby back."

"Crap," Gladion exclaimed, "we've been caught already." He quickly got out his Pokeball and prepared for a fight, as did everyone else.

Wicke chuckled slightly. "My, my, on our toes, aren't we?" She adjusted her stance. "You know, even though you two are Lusamine's children, what you are attempting to do is technically illegal, breaking and entering and all."

Lillie stamped her foot. "But what they're doing to Nebby is even more illegal! They even broke into my box to do it!"

"True, true," Wicke admitted. "I just thought it would be worth pointing out the irony of committing a crime to stop an even bigger crime."

"It's called vigilante justice," Reimu insisted. "When the law is unwilling to do something about a criminal, it's the duty of the people to right that wrong no matter what it takes."

Wicke seemed personally amused. "I suppose. The Kirisame family can be untouchable. At times, they even have the law in their pocket." She looked over her glasses. "Which also means they can and will take action against 'rogue' members."

Gladion stepped back. "...what do you mean?"

At that point, Wicke spun around, throwing off her sweater and lab coat. When she was done, she revealed a suit and tie that she was wearing underneath… including a prominently displayed International Police badge.

"Whoa…" Hau was amazed, while the others were merely stunned.

"I'll be honest," Wicke admitted, "I didn't think this undercover operation was going to produce anything meaningful, but in just a short time, I was able to confirm almost every suspicion the International Police and the Kirisame Foundation had about this place, up to and including their Ultra Wormhole research. Even though their government funding was cut, they continued in secret, and now they're preparing to use that Cosmog to try and open up an Ultra Wormhole. I was just about to give the signal, the choppers and boats are all revved up. But," she turned over to Reimu, "I suppose I would be willing to defer to your incident-resolving skills to help bust an even bigger hole in their operation before I do so."

Reimu was flabbergasted. "So… you were just posing as an Aether Employee?"

"Exactly," Wicke explained. "Lusamine, Faba, the scientists, none of them ever suspected that I worked for the International Police." She whipped out a card and scanned the elevator console. "I want to show you something that I feel all of you and Reimu in particular may want to see. I gained access to this floor recently. I'm not supposed to access it, but I figured out how to authorize my ID to go there." Within moments, the elevator was taking them all down to the dark underbelly of Aether Paradise.

* * *

Arriving in a nondescript landing room, Wicke led the group over to the sole door leaving the area, and immediately noted the myriad locks on the door.

"What is this place?" Reimu asked.

Gladion sighed and gripped himself. "This is the lab area of Aether Paradise. It's off-limits to the public, of course, and technically it's not supposed to exist. At least, not anymore, but mom continued the research in secret." He regained his composure. "This is where I stole Type: Null from."

Lillie responded, "likewise, I managed to sneak down here to free Nebby. This is where they were experimenting on it."

"I see," Reimu mused. Gladion went to open the door to let everyone into the controlled area of the lab. They had changed the locks since he broke in two years ago, but it didn't take him long to figure out how to get past them and force the door open.

Past the door, Reimu and Hau were awestruck by the cavernous lab area, which was dark save for some overhead LED lights, as well as four self-contained pods, each containing a lab unit. The first pod was empty; the second contained the table upon which Nebby was being experimented upon as well as the capsule it had been kept in. The third was marked "Primary Dimensional Research unit." And the final one was labeled with "Cryo Storage."

Reimu walked up to the door of the Cryo unit, felt the plaque with her hand, and asked, "this is where you got Type: Null from, huh?"

"...hmph."

Gladion walked over and opened the door leading inside the unit. The pod was split into two areas: one area which contained the research logs, and the other three Cryo tubes, one of which was open and deactivated and the remaining two each containing a Type: Null just like Gladion's.

"Interesting," Wicke noted.

Gladion turned on one of the computers, which contained archived development logs for Type: Null. He turned the monitor over to face the others.

"This lab has been researching Ultra Wormholes for a long time," Gladion explained. "Once it was established that they were portals to other worlds, they began to investigate if other beings could come through them into our world. It didn't take long for the first creature to do exactly that." He showed them a picture of Nihilego, which instantly made Reimu cringe.

"This was the first creature they discovered. They gave it the codename 'UB Symbiont.' 'UB' stands for 'Ultra Beast,' since these creatures come from beyond the wormhole. The name 'Symbiont' came from the fact that it was observed possessing a researcher, shifting shape based on the researcher's personality and jacking up their psyche and subconscious desires into overdrive. Once they got it off, they were still acting off, so they took a blood sample and discovered a peculiar neurotoxin in their bloodstream. This neurotoxin was soon discovered to have especially potent psychoactive properties, not only exaggerating their subconscious desires but also allowing the Ultra Beast and the host to 'think as one.' Since the Ultra Beast had no apparent personality of its own, the researchers gave it the familiar name 'Nihilego.'"

He opened another page containing more Ultra Beasts. "Over time, some other Ultra Beasts were discovered, each of them with very alien physiology and behaviors compared to creatures in our realm. At some point, it was discovered that these creatures were actually all Pokemon, albeit Pokemon with freakishly unusual traits compared to those in our world. Regular Pokeballs were ineffective against them, so a special ball known as the Beast Ball was developed in-house specifically to capture them. It uses Ultra Radiation to increase its odds of capturing Pokemon regardless of their origin, but is especially effective on anything that already has lingering Ultra Radiation. They're very expensive, but very effective as a result."

"Hang on a second," Reimu asked raising her hand. "Ultra Radiation? I've heard about that before, but could you explain it again?"

"Ultra Radiation." Gladion found a page for it. "It's the radiation found within Ultra Space, the dimension found past the Wormholes and the conduit between realms. Anything travelling through it picks it up, enhancing their capabilities for as long as the radiation stays on them. It's well-known within Alolan Legend, since legend has it that Solgaleo and Lunala granted the Island Guardians the ability to channel Ultra Radiation at will, and in turn the Guardians gave this ability to various Pokemon to turn them into Totem Pokemon." He looked at Reimu. "When this happens to a human, they're referred to as 'Fallers.' There are a few cases of humans falling through Wormholes into our world, the most significant incident being the Delta Swarm of fourteen years ago. During that time, several wormholes appeared throughout the world, with some people - such as father and our sister - disappearing through them, while others appeared through them. Ultra Radiation does weird things to humans - some of the fallers had super-strength, while others presented psychic powers even though they insisted they never had them before. It could be the reason you knew how to read, speak and write our language as opposed to the one from the place you come from."

He flipped to another slide. "Anyway, the scientists realized it would be prudent to have a defense against these Ultra Beasts. They wanted something that was highly adaptable to all sorts of threats, so taking inspiration from Arceus, who is said to be able to change its type via plates, they bioengineered a totally artificial Pokemon with traits taken from many others, then gave it a cybernetic skeleton and brain which could be fitted with various elemental 'Memories' that could change both its type and the type of its unique attack, Multi-Attack. They created three of these, and named them 'Type: Full."

Gladion paused for a second before continuing. "Creating artificial Pokemon has always been controversial, since said Pokemon are prone to berserker behavior. There was the case of Mewtwo, which was a Pokemon created using Mew's DNA to become the strongest Pokemon in existence. It killed all the scientists in the lab before destroying said lab, and has since disappeared. Several years later, Team Plasma scientists attempted to create their own 'Ultimate Pokemon' Genesect, this time based on the fossil of a super-ancient Pokemon believed to be an apex predator in its own time. It too destroyed the lab it was made in, but at least the scientists came out alive. The trainer Rosa eventually tamed it and took it in as her own. Just like those, the three Type: Full all went berserk and trashed the lab, before they were brought under control using knockout gas. The scientists didn't want to kill them, so instead they fitted them with power-limiting helmets and then froze them, reclassifying the failed experiments 'Type: Null.'"

The room fell silent.

"I see," Wicke noted. "If that's the case, then what drove you to steal one of the Type: Null for yourself?"

Gladion hesitated to respond. "I don't really know. All I know was that I was tired of mom's increasingly irrational behavior and wanted to do something to rebel. For some reason, I decided to break into the lab down here, unfreeze a Type: Null, and escape on a stolen boat. I spent two years homeless wandering across the islands, because I didn't want to go home. That's also how I ended up with Team Skull, because I had nowhere else to turn, nowhere else to go."

Reimu then asked him, "what did you hope to do with it?"

Gladion sighed and looked down. "I just… I guess I just wanted to give it a normal life, raise it like a normal Pokemon, teach it that it wasn't just a science experiment. But I'm not sure how to do that, even after two years. I don't think it trusts humans, which is why it didn't put up much of a fight back when you and I battled, because I didn't have a strong enough bond with it, and still don't. But I still think it's better for it than being a popsicle."

"...I see," Reimu said. "You know, you're kinder than you think."

"...you really think so?" Gladion replied.

"You can't effectively train that Pokemon, yet you still try because you know it's right. You're only brooding because of the circumstances forced on you. I can tell that, deep down, you're the sort of person who cares deeply for others and wants to look out for them."

Gladion stewed on Reimu's words for a minute. He then gripped himself, before looking back up.

"...people tell me I'm like mom, when she was still normal. A compassionate person who keeps others out of trouble. That's what attracted her to father, a troublemaker and a headstrong, cocky man like most Kirisames. By contrast, everyone said my twin sister Marisa inherited the "Kirisame Gene", since even though we were small children she was always getting herself into trouble and doing weird freezer experiments."

Reimu rolled her eyes. "And now she's a witch who thinks the solution to everything is more lasers."

Gladion cocked an eye. "Come again?"

"I'll be straightforward," Reimu said. "I've come to suspect that your sister Marisa Kirisame and my friend Marisa Kirisame are the same person. She came out of nowhere with her dad, about fourteen years ago at that. She has a strong, blunt, and abrasive personality, is a compulsive thief and hoarder, and very dedicated to her magical experiments. We solve incidents together and I help mind her more destructive behavior. She also has a rough tone in her voice, is very informal, and gets into fights a lot. Despite that, she has a really big heart and cares for Gensokyo, but she won't show it to anyone not close to her."

Gladion was stunned, just for a moment, but then smirked. "Heh. How funny." He looked down, still smiling. "How funny that the place you're from is the place my sister and father ended up." He looked up again. "Speaking of which… how is he?"

"Oh, Mohn?" Reimu said. "He owns a secondhand shop in the town. He's a really nice guy, maybe a little too nice, and he has the biggest, loudest laugh ever."

"Yep, definitely sounds like-"

They heard a hissing sound coming from inside the cryo chamber.

"What was that?!"

The group turned around and saw the locks on one of the cryo tubes releasing themselves. Gas spewed out of the tube, shrouding the entire floor beneath them in a cold fog.

"What's going on?!" Hau stuttered.

"I don't know! Something with the cryo tube!" Gladion shouted. "Did… did one of you mess with it?"

Everyone shook their heads. "Nope," Reimu said.

"I didn't touch it," Hau said half-sheepishly.

"Then… did it open on it's own?"

As the gas dissipated, the glass tube covering the Type: Null within lifted up, causing the creature to fall onto the floor in a daze. Everyone kept their distance, not wanting to provoke it. Their hearts were beating ever so slightly harder and faster as they gazed upon the chimera.

The Type: Null soon found its way back onto its feet which had not touched the floor in years. Grumbling, the beast looked around, until its eyes found themselves trained on the large group just ahead of it. Interpreting this as a threat, it took a striking stance and growled.

Reimu reached for Magnezone's ball before Gladion grabbed her shoulder. "Not yet," he said to her. "It'll definitely see that as a threat."

Reimu nodded but still kept her trigger finger on the button to enlarge it as the angry Type: Null continued to size them up.

"Hey," she whispered to Gladion while peering at him. "What did you do when you took yours? Was it like this?"

"Initially, yes," he said. "I let it chase me until I crossed paths with a scientist, then let it battle her Pokemon until it was weak so I could catch it and run off with it."

Reimu looked around. "Well, I don't see any scientists here, so that isn't going to work. Shouldn't we just battle it? My Pokemon are all much more powerful now than they were when I fought you back on Akala, and so are theirs."

Gladion looked down, then looked back at Reimu and said, "I suppose, if you think that will work."

"Sounds like a plan," Reimu smirked. But before she could throw the ball, Lillie stopped her hand.

"Huh? Hey, what are you doing?" Reimu blurted.

Lillie shushed her. "Not so loud!" She then looked at Type: Null. "Erm… I don't think violence is right here. It's obviously scared, and it just came out of deep freeze."

Reimu crossed her arms. "Well then, what do you propose?"

Rather than answer, Lillie quietly and carefully approached Type: Null. Once she was three meters from it, she reached into her bag and got out five berries, each a different color, and laid them down for it.

"Hm?" Gladion wondered.

"Just watch," Lillie said stepping back. For a moment, Type: Null wasn't sure how to take this gesture, since it still thought the five could be threats. After a few moments of silence, though, it approached the assortment and began to sniff them. It writhed its nose (if there was one under the helmet) at the Pomeg Berry, before sniffing the others and drawing its attention to the Kasib Berry. It sniffed it for a while before gnawing on and then just eating it, a jaw visible from under the helmet.

"It's probably just hungry," Lillie guessed.

"Well, I mean, mine was after I caught it," Gladion said. "Stuff in cryo does get hungry and weak after a while since they don't get any food while frozen."

Hau smiled. "So, it likes sweets, huh? Well then…" He reached into his bag and pulled out a malasada, before offering it to Type: Null. "Would you like a malasada?"

It sniffed the malasada for one second before inhaling it.

"Alright! I think it likes me!" Hau exclaimed.

"Tsk tsk," Lillie scolded. "Starting it off on bad habits." Everyone except Hau got a laugh out of that one; Hau just scowled once again.

Type: Null began to understand that these people were not threats, but rather were trying to help it out. It gave Reimu a wary eye since she stood ready to fight, whereas Lillie was more nurturing of it, feeding it and all. So it went up to her and gave her a slight nudge. Lillie froze up a bit in surprise, but it gave a couple more nudges to let her know that it wasn't going to hurt her.

Slowly, after realizing what this meant, Lillie reached out and gave it a pet.

"...is the fin _wagging _?" Reimu asked with a silly look on her face.

"Fascinating," Wicke noted adjusting her glasses.

Indeed, Type: Null really was enjoying the attention Lillie was giving it, gently petting and rubbing it and giving it the sort of care that the scientists never did. Lillie was enjoying it too, and found it funny that something she was prepared to face just a moment ago she was now treating like one of her own Pokemon.

Lillie smiled. "See, it just needs a little love. It never got that. None of them did."

Reimu thought for a moment, then made a suggestion. "I have an idea. You have an empty spot on your team right now, right?"

"Yeah?" Lillie said cautiously.

"Then why not add it to your team? I don't think it'll resist you."

Lillie's eyes widened. "B-b-but, wouldn't that be stealing?"

"Well, yes," Reimu said bluntly as she always did. "But it's just like your brother's: better off with you than here in the lab. And it obviously likes you, so it would be pretty heartbroken if you left it behind. Besides, you're strong now and could probably fight off an army of bad guys by yourself. Who cares if you steal it? I don't."

..._ she's right _, Lillie thought. It's stealing, but it's stealing from bad people. _If I could give it a better life… _Lillie fished an Ultra Ball out of her bag, tossed it in the air, and let it capture Type: Null. Once it hit the ground, it shook only a single time before clicking, indicating a very successful capture.

"See what I mean?" Reimu smiled crossing her arms and looking aside.

"I… I do see!" Lillie stuttered.

Gladion clicked. "Guess that makes both of us thieves," he said. "If only Marisa were here, then we'd each have one as siblings."

Somehow, Reimu wasn't too keen on entertaining the thought of Marisa having her own Pokemon. What would they even be like? She had a feeling Marisa would be heavily biased toward wrecking balls, or perhaps "thief" Pokemon such as Zoroark. Given her experience with divination, enchantments and other sorts of witchcraft, Reimu could also see Marisa being a full-on Ghost-type trainer. Whatever the case, it would be… interesting if she did.

Clearing her thoughts, she then suggested, "well, now that both of you have Type: Nulls, perhaps you should give them names to tell them apart. It would also be kind of awkward and disheartening to keep calling them 'Type: Null.'"

Lillie and Gladion nodded in agreement and let their respective Type: Nulls out, each looking at their owners curiously. "I agree. I kept calling it that because I didn't really want to be too attached to it if they found us and took it away. But… now that I think about it, maybe that's why it doesn't trust me as much." He looked at his Type: Null, then looked back. "Family tradition is that we give our Pokemon names based on historical and mythological figures. Since it's beast-like…" He thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "How about 'Orthus?'"

His Type: Null stewed for a second, then gave an approving tail-wag.

"Alright, then from now on you're Orthus." He smiled. "That was easy. What about you, Lillie?"

"Urm…" To be honest, Lillie hadn't been too faithful to "family tradition," since the whole point of her running away was to rebel from their mom. "Adele" kinda counted she figured, and Zygarde was an _actual _mythological being, but "Snowy" and "Nebby" did not, and she hadn't even given Haunter a nickname yet. But she decided to humor Gladion here, so she came up with a name to match Orthus.

"Okay… how about 'Cerberus?'" Such a name seemed an odd fit for a seemingly timid creature, but it too seemed to like the name since it wasn't "Type: Null."

"Interesting," Reimu mused. "Orthrus and Cerberus." She thought to herself, then said, "I guess I really should come up with real names for Magnezone and Lucario." She shrugged. "Ah well, I guess now isn't really the time. C'mon, let's go save Nebby."

"Right," Lillie agreed as they recalled their Pokemon and made their way out the door, only to be confronted by a large group of scientists, led by Faba.

"Oh, shoot!" Reimu, Lillie, Hau, Gladion and Wicke all drew Pokeballs at the scientists.

"Greetings," Faba said with a tinge of dominance in his voice. "Welcome to Aether Paradise. You know, this area is off-limits to guests, so I suggest you leave immediately." He looked at Wicke. "To think, I never would have suspected you to be an undercover Interpol agent. No matter, you won't be leaving this place with evidence, I will ensure that."

"I have all the evidence I need," Wicke barked at him, "and I've sent it all to HQ by now or am about to. My colleagues are coming here as we speak. We can seize your research and arrest everyone."

Faba gave a defiant laugh. "Too little, too late I'm afraid," he said haughty. "We've already taken Cosmog, and the president has made final preparations to conduct the ultimate experiment."

Wicke gave an annoyed grunt. "Look, Lillie and Gladion may have stolen the Cosmog and the two experiments, but given the circumstances forced on them and the inhumane things going on down in this lab, we're not even going to bother charging them with anything. You, on the other hand, are guilty of unauthorized access to a private PC account, unethical experiments including research into Ultra Wormholes without government approval after we ordered you to halt all work and cut your funding, accepting and giving bribes, tax fraud and forged documents."

Hau whispered to Lillie, "I didn't know Yoshi worked here."

Reimu stepped up with a stern look and said to Faba, "you know, at least the courts here are willing to give you due process for a rap sheet like that. I've exterminated youkai back home for less."

Faba scoffed. "Well, you're not the law here, young lady. Besides, we can do whatever we want with our connections."

"The Kirisame Foundation ordered this investigation," Wicke retorted. "Connections or no, you have no one to fall back on now."

Faba seethed as his irritation grew. "Hmph." He turned to his goons. "It hardly matters now. The only thing that matters is that we have you surrounded." The scientists all quickly sent out assorted Pokemon to face the group, with Faba sending out his own trump card, Hypno.

Reimu smirked, and chuckled low. "Heh." She tossed a Pokeball up and down. "You know, we're not trapped down here with a bunch of hostile scientists. YOU'RE trapped here with US!" She sent out Sasha, with Lillie and Hau sending out Adele and Hedwig alongside. Gladion chose his Zoroark, who flipped its hair as it got ready to throw down.

They looked at Wicke. "Got any Pokemon, miss investigator?" Hau asked.

"It'd be foolish of you to assume I did not," Wicke answered, before tossing out an Arcanine. "Standard issue International Police Arcanine. Specially bred to be top-of-the-line, on par with competition varieties, and will go for the neck on command if necessary. Can and has easily defeated Water-types. His name is Leo."

"Niiiiiiice," Hau awed.

"We don't have time to be fooling around," Gladion snapped. "Everyone, attack!"

"Got it!" they all replied in unison. And with that, the battle commenced. Despite being outnumbered 2-to-1, they were clearly the better trainers, since they tore through the scientist's less experienced Pokemon left and right. Most were "scrub" Pokemon like Raticate, Linoone and Beedrill, hardly a match for their more professionally-trained counterparts. Only Faba's Pokemon seemed decently trained, with Hypno proving to be the only challenge of the bunch. It could parry projectile attacks with Psychic, and then attempt to use Hypnosis to put them to sleep and follow it up with Dream Eater.

At one point, Hypno managed to capture Sasha's attention. Sasha discarded the Dragonair he was beating up and went to go try and bash Hypno's skull in. Once Hypno had Sasha where he wanted him, he raised his pendulum and began to swing it back and forth. As it swung, hypnotic waves emanated from it, the shimmering blue-and-pink waves creating a hypnotic rhythm that could entrance even the most lucid of beings into a dreamland from which its dreams could be feasted upon.

Sasha reached out, grabbed the pendulum from Hypno's and, and ate it, the whole time keeping a blank expression.

Hypno began to freak out, since without a pendulum Hypnos couldn't project their power as well. After a few moments, Sasha punched it right in the face, knocking it over and out and forcing Faba to recall it. At this point, the scientists were all beaten, with some of them trying to escape before Reimu sent out Wakasagihime to block the exit. Faba tried to continue to fight, but none of his other Pokemon were strong enough to take on the full might of five hardened trainers at once. Letting loose with all the Dark and Ghost moves their Pokemon had, Faba's remaining team was effortlessly crushed.

Collapsing to the ground in disbelief, Faba began to freak out and his glasses half fell off of his face.

"N-no… how can this be?" He cried out dramatically.

"Outnumbering us doesn't help when it's flies up against Ursarings," Wicke quipped. "You're finished. Now, where is Lusamine?"

"In the mansion," Faba gasped. Then he smiled. "But you'll never get there! The door to the courtyard is sealed shut! You'll never get there as long as I have the key card!"

"Hey, thanks for telling us where it is!" Hau chirped.

...it was then that Faba realized what he just said. He looked up at the group: Hau was grinning cheekily, Reimu crossed her arms and smirked like she couldn't believe he just said that, Lillie was silent, Gladion was facepalming and shaking his head, and Wicke stood and smiled dissonantly. Meanwhile, Faba's face contorted into a horrified expression, and he broke into a cold sweat.

He heard a click as he turned his head and found Wicke's pistol trained on him. She asked him sweetly, "now, be a dear and give us the keycard."

A crack formed in his glasses as his eye twitched.

They all made it up the elevator to the main floor of the center. Wicke ordered the scientists to come with her and remain under her supervision until the rest of the agents arrived - which, given the distant sound of helicopters and speedboats outside, shouldn't be long, she thought. Faba himself was being restrained by both her and Reimu to ensure he didn't try to escape, while Lillie followed closely behind the scientists with Adele in case they got any ideas. It was ironic: months ago, she was running from these same scientists, and now she was herding them to keep them under control. Hau and Gladion walked on either side.

Once they made it to the massive steel blast door, Faba was walked up to the terminal and ordered to open the door. Faced with no alternative, he scanned his employee ID to activate the biometrics, and upon passing an eye scan the door light turned green and the door started to open.

He turned to Wicke and hissed, "you won't win." Wicke said nothing in response.

On the other side, Team Skull grunts littered the mansion courtyard, ordered there by Lusamine to help guard the place from intruders. To the west, they pointed out black dots - Interpol helicopters, filled to the brim with hardened agents, Machamps for busting down doors and barriers, riot control Vivillons with Sleep Powder, Porygons who could infiltrate and hack into encrypted databases, and Zebsrtikas who could stun dangerous and unruly individuals.

"This is bad, yo," one of them said to another.

"Think someone ratted?"

They then heard a loud noise. They looked over, and saw the door open up. As it lifted up, it revealed three pairs of feet, which became three pairs of legs, then finally showed the bodies of Hau, Reimu and Lillie, standing tall and imposing, letting everyone know that they meant business and weren't going to be pushed around.

Once the door was fully open, they began to walk forward, toward the mansion. No grunt dared speak a word, much less tried to impede their progress. The only sound in the air was that of the approaching police vehicles. As far as these grunts were concerned, though, these three… _forces _, they were the law. Right now, they were the law. Not Interpol agents, the grunts would rather face those. No, these three were… something else. They and they way they trained and fought with their Pokemon. The mood of the very air they breathed was controlled by them completely. All three were filled with determination and resolve. Following right behind them, their own enforcer, painted with a similar resolve unlike anything he had demonstrated previously.

The path to the mansion's front doors was straight down the tiled promenade, with only a single figure obstructing it, hunched over and tapping his feet. The three stopped in front of him.

"So," Guzma asked annoyed, "you put the pieces all together and you figured out… what exactly?"

"There's nothing to figure out," Reimu told him. "We already know everything. How the Aether Foundation used you guys to track down Nebby." She took a step back. "I'll admit: that plan to steal the Yungoos in order to separate Lillie from Nebby, knowing she wouldn't take it with her to your hideout. A brilliant plan even I didn't foresee." She looked around. "But, we're here to claim our stolen property. And the cops are bearing down on this place as we speak."

"Who cares?" Guzma spat on the ground next to him. "It was a job we took for a fat wad of money and we managed to do it." He pointed two fingers at them. "You got any idea what we go through? The way society tosses us all aside and the grown-ups won't give us a chance? That's why I brought Team Skull together. This is what we do because this is what we're forced to do."

"That doesn't make it not illegal," Lillie said sternly. "There are plenty of people who built themselves back up after hitting rock bottom. You're just throwing out excuses because you gave up. You've all given up. And now you're serving the will of my mother, who isn't right in the head!"

Guzma crossed his arms and was silent.

"Are you going to fight us again?" Hau asked him. "We've won twice."

"More like SHE'S won twice," Guzma barked. "You two just mooch off of her because you can't win your own fights."

"Untrue," Reimu said. "I've seen these two fight. They have natural talent as well. All I did was give them a push. I'm sure even under the best teacher, most people wouldn't get this good this quickly. Wouldn't you agree?"

Guzma stamped his foot. "Oh, so now you're sayin' you're all better than everyone else just because Arceus gave you skills? Is that what you're implying?" He huffed. "Heh… you really ARE no better than everyone else. Casting us down… but I can't allow that. I WILL be the hated boss who beats you down and never lets up!" He grinned and readied a ball. "That's me, Guzma-"

He heard the front door of the mansion slam behind him.

"Hmm…?" Guzma turned around, and his eyes met the fake Reimu.

"The hell?" Guzma was confused. "Who are you? Her twin sister or something?"

Reimu pushed him aside as she rushed up to meet her doppleganger.

"Hey? Whaddya doin'?" he exclaimed.

Reimu did not hesitate to send out Lucario to meet the threat. "You came back," she said menacingly. "Interesting to meet you in this place… tell me. Just what were you doing in there?"

Fake Reimu opened her mouth. "I…" Her voice still had an otherworldly buzz to it which caught Guzma a little off-guard.

"What is this? Who are ya?!" he demanded.

"...will you… challenge me again?"

Reimu turned to Lucario, then back to her fake. "Well, bring it on. Show me what you and your Pokemon are made of."

Fake Reimu bowed, then sent out Naganadel. Reimu immediately ordered Lucario to use Ice Punch to take advantage of its weakness, before Lucario found himself narrowly dodging a Flamethrower.

"Interesting," Reimu remarked. "Looks like you've figured out how to cover your weaknesses." Reimu realized she would have to play more strategically this time around if Naganadel had a fire attack that could hit Lucario's weakness. "Lucario," she commanded, "kite around that thing and try to catch it off-guard. Then hit it with your best shot once it's wide open."

Lucario nodded in agreement, then began to dash around Naganadel, who proved far more nimble than expected. At one point, Naganadel stopped and seemingly charged up with a dark aura - Nasty Plot. Now its attacks were even stronger; one false move and Lucario was down for the count, putting even more pressure on his aura-sensing abilities to predict the opponent's moves. For now, Naganedel continued to spew flame from its stinger.

The flames left no opening for Lucatio to be able to move in and land an attack, but he also knew Naganadel couldn't use it forever. All moves had a limited number of uses, after which the Pokemon either tires out or they run out of ammunition. Jumping up onto a hedge, he dashed down, avoiding the wall of fire creeping up on him as the hedge went up in flames. Once he hit a wall, he performed an aura-assisted jump in order to dodge one last flame shot.

Smoke and embers puttered out of Naganadel's stinger, indicating it was out of ammo for the attack. Looking around, it couldn't see Lucario anywhere. Fake Reimu ordered another use of Nasty Plot, hoping to overcome resistance with sheer force once Lucario came out.

...but not before Lucario landed on top of Naganadel's head with a kick, disorienting it long enough to allow him to land an Ice Punch right in the gut. The attack was strong enough to knock it out in a single hit.

Recalling her Pokemon, Fake Reimu was silent.

"You got a little bit better," Reimu admitted, "but you still have a ways to go."

"...I...know." Fake Reimu adjusted her stance.

"What is it?" Reimu asked crossing her arms.

"...I…" Then, suddenly, she collapsed to the ground. Clutching herself, clenching her teeth and holding back a scream, she writhed in pain as her eyes threatened to pop out of her skull.

"Wha-" Reimu rushed over to her double. "Are you okay?" She wasn't sure why - surely this being was malevolent somehow, so why did Reimu feel the need to make sure she was alright? And yet she was, perhaps because of her empathetic side that let her make so many friends.

As her fake wriggled around and Reimu tried to figure out what to do, she noticed something strange: the fake seemed to be changing color. Stepping back to get a better look, Reimu could see the greyish skin tone give way to a more natural peach color, and the washed-out miko outfit gaining hues as well.

"What's going on?" Lillie asked.

"The hell is this?" Guzma exclaimed.

Reimu didn't have an answer for either. She just stood back and watched fake Reimu undergo the strange transformation.

Then, Hau made an astute observation.

"Hey… wasn't she in the shadow of the mansion until a few moments ago?"

"What do you mean?" Lillie asked him.

"Maybe she's reacting to the sunlight?"

Reimu turned back around to the fake, and suddenly it made sense: before, in the jungle, the sunlight was being filtered by leaves, but here it was stark white and completely exposed to the sun. Just as she realized this, she also noticed that the area had gotten slightly darker, except for immediately around fake Reimu. In other words, she seemed to be absorbing sunlight. For some reason, being exposed to high levels of sunlight caused her to start absorbing it, and that was causing a change in her.

This lasted for several minutes, before she fell back to the ground. As she slowly got back up, Reimu could observe the changes: the fake looked just like her in her miko dress, except it was purple where the real Reimu's was red.

No one said a word.

The fake Reimu, now back up on her feet, took a moment to check herself out, looking at her hands, her arms, her hair and her dress. She then brushed herself off, and looked up in the sky.

"...Master was right about Alola's light," she said, now noticeably without any distortion.

"Master?" Reimu asked her.

"Alola's light is the reason he came here five-hundred years ago."

"Who is your master?" Reimu asked her forcefully.

"The one who steals the light."

500 years ago, steals light, very obviously she was talking about Necrozma.

"...I see," Reimu replied. "and he came here because…"

"My master was left incomplete after a terrible incident," fake Reimu explained. "Ever since then, he's been looking for a way to become complete again. I'm his ambassador."

Reimu pointed at her fake. "Tell me, what does he want with me, and what were you doing in this house."

"He wants to ensure you're strong. His plan can't work if you were to die. I just waited here because I knew you'd be here."

Reimu's eyes widened. "Wait… 'plan?' What is this 'plan?'"

This time, instead of responding, fake Reimu raised her gohei in the air, summoned an Ultra Wormhole, and disappeared into it, closing it behind her.

"Wait!" Reimu tried to stop her, but she was already gone. All that was left was thin air where the wormhole had been.

The air was still for a moment as everyone wondered what the heck was going on.

"...uhhhhhhhh…" Guzma was very confused.

The silence was broken when an officer came up to Wicke. They had arrived to the facility during the fight with fake Reimu.

"Mrs. Wicke," he said. "We're here. What do you want us to do?"

"Take all the employees and scientists into custody for questioning," she said. "As for the Team Skull members, just guide them off the island and confiscate any drugs, weapons and paraphernalia they have. I've already marked everything we need to take as evidence."

The officer looked at the mansion. "And the president herself?"

"Leave her to us."

"Understood." The officer bowed and went back to continue his duties. The five plus Guzma then proceeded into the mansion to confront Lusamine.

But what fake Reimu had said still weighed on the real one's mind. What did she mean when she said Necrozma had a plan that relied on Reimu still being alive in order to work? Without any other details, Reimu's mind began to wonder. If her statement was true, then this confirmed Reimu's fears that the incident was more complex than her just being taken away from home. In a way, it was scarier than if the culprit, now almost certainly Necrozma, had just wanted to kill her and leave Gensokyo without the Hakurei Shrine maiden. Instead, it was keeping her alive, and not only that, it wanted to make sure she was strong, too.

What Reimu wondered was, for what purpose?

* * *

Once they stepped inside the mansion, all eyes turned toward locating Lusamine. The place was huge, with a massive foyer with a polished, hardwood floor with expensive, exotic rugs covering it, gleaming white staircases held up by marble support columns leading up to the second floor, and decorative native Alolan artwork and sculptures lining the walls.

"This place is huge," Reimu remarked. "Where do you think she could be?"

"I bet I know," Gladion confidently told the group. He led them through a door which led to the dining room, which featured a large, polished oak table, a metal door which led to the kitchen, and a portrait of Lusamine on the far wall opposite the door.

Gladion walked over to the portrait and turned to the group. "Mom doesn't want people to know this room exists," he explained. "I hacked into a camera to watch her go into this room." He removed a small picture next to the portrait, revealing a keypad. After punching in a combination, the portrait slid up to reveal a lift. "Get on," he commanded. The group of six was just able to all get onto the lift, which took them down to another location.

Once at the bottom, they rushed out to meet Lusamine, but it didn't take long for them to actually look around this new room and for them to be completely aghast at what they saw.

"What… the…" Reimu, Lillie and Hau simply could not believe what they saw: all around, various Pokemon were frozen in ice blocks mounted on pillars surrounding the central platform where Lusamine was holding a strange box.

Shaking it off and refocusing on the mission, they stepped forward to confront Lusamine.

"Mother!" Lillie shouted.

Lusamine turned around and set the box down. She crossed her arms, and stared forward blankly.

"Welcome," she said to the group. She looked at Reimu. "I guess I should have expected you to find out the truth eventually and try to 'fix' what I'm doing." She then turned to Lillie and Gladion. "But I didn't think you two would actually come back here, not after what you did."

Lillie stamped her foot. "Mother, you have to understand. What you're doing… it's immoral! You're letting your obsession go too far!"

Lusamine shook her head. "I do understand, Lillie. I understand _everything _I'm doing. But you selfishly wish for my happiness without understanding the pain I go through every day I've gone without your father. Now, after fourteen long years, I finally have a way to see him again, and you expect for me to throw it away. What kind of horrible daughter expects their mother to do that?!"

Lillie stomped her foot. "No, mother. _You _are horrible. The way you treated us as you became more and more unhinged, the way you treat your employees. You are willing to kill a baby to open up a portal to untold things, not knowing or caring if father and Marisa are still alive or where they ended up. If you don't let go of this, mother, your obsession will lead us all to disaster!"

Lusamine was furious. "How dare you! I thought I raised you better to be an obedient, young lady who listens to others, not a rebellious brat!" She grabbed a Pokeball and sent out a Clefable. "I will MAKE you obey!"

Lillie looked down, eyes closed. Then, she smirked, and laughed.

"You're right, mother." Now she sounded almost like Marisa. "I am a rebel. I'm a rebel on the side of justice. Before, I was a coward, running away from the truth. But now I've come back. Not to face the truth, but to _rewrite _the truth." Then, in one swift motion, she spun around, throwing off her hat and dress to reveal another dress, one with a short, pleated skirt and a shirt with a blue ascot, underneath it. "I am not your submissive, subservient dress-up doll that you can push around to fulfill your obsessive desires. I am my own woman, and Reimu helped me see that. Now," she took out a Pokeball, and sent out Cerberus to face Clefable. "I will show you the truth and make you come to your senses. And if I have to be a rebel… well," she grinned, teeth showing and eyes sharp. "I'll wreak havoc as much as I want, and be the delinquent I am!"

Reimu couldn't be happier. And neither could Hau. Lusamine, meanwhile, seethed as all she could do was command Clefable to attack, but Cerberus promptly demonstrated that its apparently timid exterior hid the spirit of a warrior, since prior to being frozen it had been taught strong moves like Iron Head and Crunch. It also lived up to its namesake by spewing flames from its mouth, which seared Lusamine's Lilligant. Cerberus did eventually go down, but not until it had taken down three opponents and weakened a fourth. Lillie clearly had the advantage.

"Grr," Lusamine grunted irritated. "You brat!"

Lillie wasn't listening. Instead, she sent her Gengar out against Mismagius.

"Now," she commanded, "go, Hecatia!" And so her Gengar, Hecatia, unleashed a Shadow Ball against Mismagius, dropping it instantly.

Lusamine was now down to her last Pokemon, Bewear. Now, Lillie could have just kept Hecatia out to finish it off, since Bewear had no way to hurt her. Instead, she decided to swap out to Adele, in order to demonstrate her power.

"I'm not weak anymore, you can see," Lillie boasted, "I am a trainer, descended from three thousand years of Kirisames, and I swear to my bones that I will be victorious! Now, finish them, Adele!"

Lillie expected Adele to use Moonblast. But she was surprised when Adele began to charge up what looked like a Hadouken between her two flippers, and in one motion, launched it at Bewear, striking it right in the face. For just a moment, time seemed to stop and the colors inverted. Bewear was launched across the room, knocking it out and forcing Lusamine to recall it.

"...what was THAT move?" Reimu asked.

"It looked like Focus Blast," Wicke replied, "...but Primarina shouldn't be able to learn that attack."

Whatever the case, the battle was Lillie's, and no one said a word.

Lusamine stood there for a moment, arms crossed and staring forward.

"Well then," she said.

"Mother…"

Lusamine lowered her arms. "I'm surprised. You're much stronger than I thought. You've really grown." For a moment, Lusamine sounded sincerely proud of her daughter that she had become so strong.

She then picked up the cube Nebby was locked up in. "It doesn't matter, though. I've already started the program."

"What do you mean?" Reimu asked forcefully, drawing her gohei.

"This cube works by drawing Cosmog's power to open up an Ultra Wormhole. It takes a while to work, and I started up as soon as you arrived here. It's too late to abort it at this point. In just a few moments, a wormhole will open up here, leading to another world. A world that I'm sure they're in."

Guzma stamped his foot. "This is crazy!" he protested. "Ya' didn't tell me about ANY of this! What if a monster comes out of it?!"

"I've already prepared for that eventuality," Lusamine explained. "And besides, you're all a bunch of strong trainers. I'm sure you could face whatever came out of it."

Reimu furiously shouted, "what…? You little - you think we'd be willing to just-"

"...pew…"

Lillie started tearing up. "...Nebby…"

Lusamine held the cube up, and spun around. As she did, it started glowing, lights shining out from the inside of the cube.

"You're insane," Wicke said.

"That's what they all said. 'You can't do this,' 'we won't fund that,'" Lusamine mumbled. "But look at this! I'll show them all that five years of research wasn't wasted on nothing!"

A familiar electric rumble started up as the hairs on everyone's arms began to stand up. Soon, an Ultra Wormhole opened up, right in front of Lusamine, the wind from within gently blowing her hair in wistful waves.

"This is it…" she muttered, smiling wide-eyed. "This… is it!"

Everyone else just stood back and watched this surreal scene play out.

"I can feel it!" she grinned. "It worked. I'm going to see you, my love!"

A deafening and forceful blast knocked her across the room and into the wall.

"MOTHER!" Lillie shrieked. Quickly, she and Gladion shoved past everyone else to rush to her aid. Just as they reached her, however, they turned around and saw the box with Nebby inside it, which Lusamine had dropped.

Then, a huge pair of claws snatched it up.

Lillie's eyes widened in terror.

"NEBBY!" she screamed. She tried to rush over, but was stopped when a blinding flash of light burst from the wormhole, forcing her and everyone to cover their eyes.

Once they opened back up, they could hardly believe the sight in front of them.

"What… the… hell…" Guzma muttered.

What was in front of them, what had just taken up Nebby… it certainly wasn't Nebby anymore. What they all saw looked like Lunala, but glowing a sickly blue color, covered in black, prismatic crystals, huge, sharp claws drawn beneath its wings, and a sinister, masked face staring them down.

Reimu stood forward, and could hardly believe what she saw.

"...Necrozma," she muttered under breath.

After floating in place silently for a moment, Necrozma reared down, then extended its arms and let out a ghastly screech, instantly generating a red aura which surrounded it.

Without hesitation, Reimu sent out Sasha, while Lillie, Hau, and Gladion sent out their respective strongest Pokemon to face this abomination.

"Alright," Reimu commanded everyone. "We don't know what this thing can do to us. Give it all you got!"

The heat of the moment and Reimu's strong voice drowned out any and all foreboding of the situation, as Hau and Lillie steeled themselves and ordered their Pokemon to use any and all attacks to try and damage it. "Try" being the operative term here, since none of them had any effect. Spirit Shackle? The arrows just bounced off harmlessly. Flamethrower? The fire was extinguished the moment it came into contact with Necrozma's body. Even Adele's overpowered Scalds just fizzled into harmless steam as they struck Necrozma. Meanwhile, Necrozma slashed with its claws, blew mighty gusts with its wings, and let out flashes of light to disorient its foes.

Frustrated, Reimu shouted, "dammit, why isn't anything working?" Meanwhile, all their Pokemon tired themselves out trying to hurt Necrozma, to no avail, while Necrozma parried their attacks.

At that point, Necrozma held up a hand and began to charge an energy ball, which dimmed the room as it grew, before reaching the size of a fridge and launching it at the group. Thinking quickly, Adele used Focus Blast to intercept it. The resulting clash created a mighty explosion which knocked everyone off their feet, and shattered the cryo cases, releasing dazed Pokemon. Instinctively, all ran to the lift and managed to escape up it away from danger.

Reimu looked up to see if this did anything to Necrozma. ; it was still there, no worse for wear but slightly more pissed than before.

"Dammit," she grunted. "There must be SOME way to hurt this thing!"

Hau, hoping he could help, studied Necrozma for a bit, then he realized something.

"Hey Reimu, check this out," he said. He pointed out Necrozma's aura. "That aura… it looks like a Totem Aura."

Reimu took a closer look at the aura. Hau was right: it highly resembled a red-tinted Totem Aura.

"What about it?" she asked.

"Well, gramps told me about how Z-Power gives Pokemon a lot of power, which causes them to give off an aura. What if you used a Z-Move?"

…

Reimu realized none of them had actually tried that. Worth a shot, she felt. So she reached into her bag and got out a random Z-Crystal; it was an Incinium-Z. She slapped it onto her Z-Ring, flashed it, and performed a Dark-type dance, creating energy which rushed into Sasha.

Brimming with Z-Power, Sasha flexed his muscles, knelted to the ground, glared and grinned menacingly at Necrozma. Then, he dashed to Necrozma, unleashing a gut-punch that caused Necrozma to flinch. Sasha then followed it up with a forceful uppercut, sending Necrozma upward. Sasha then jumped in the air above Necrozma, slammed it back into the ground with a heel kick, and finally, bore down on Necrozma with a powerful Malicious Moonslaught while roaring, creating an explosion accompanied by dinging wrestling bells.

Once the flash died down, Reimu looked back forward, and Sasha landed in front of her, covered in smoke and scuff but otherwise alright. Necrozma was on the ground, but immediately staggered back up and got back into the air.

"Did it… work?" Reimu wondered.

"Hey!" Hau shouted while pointing. "Look! It's aura is gone!"

Reimu looked at Necrozma, and it was true: the aura was no longer there.

"Huh… the Z-Move must have canceled it out." She smiled. "Well, it might not have knocked Necrozma out, but at least we can hopefully hurt it now." She fixed her stance and stared it down while grinning. "Alright, Necrozma, time to show you the true power of a Hakurei Shrine Mai-"

Suddenly, another Ultra Wormhole ripped open to one side. Everyone looked over.

"Huh?" Reimu wondered.

"Reinforcements?" Lillie said.

All of them drew their Pokeballs at the wormhole, ready for anything and everything to spew forth from it. But what came out shocked Reimu to the core.

Speeding out of it, Marisa brought the broom to a screeching halt, with Alice and Sunshine not far behind, the wormhole closing just behind Sunshine.

Looking around, Marisa spotted Necrozma and pointed it out.

"There it is!" she shouted wide-eyed.

Alice adjusted her glasses. "Are you sure? It looks different…"

"It's gotta be it! Look at the claws!" Drawing her Mini-Hakkero, Marisa charged Necrozma. "Alright, you little roach! Time to stop running and take your-"

Necrozma then cried out, before slipping into the wormhole behind it and closing it.

"DAMMIT!" Marisa shouted. Landing on the ground, completely oblivious to the people around her, she stomped the ground repeatedly in frustration.

Alice came over to Marisa and confronted her. "You should not have chased it like that! Look at what happened!"

"How else was I supposed to fry its ass?!" Marisa retorted. "We couldn't let something like that run around-"

Alice grabbed Marisa's shoulders and shook her. "Look at this mess you got us into! Now WE'RE lost in another realm the same as Reimu! And Sunshine is trapped here with us too!"

"Chill out," Marisa said pushing Alice away. "There's gotta be a way we can get back."

"Oh, and what do you propose?!" Alice snapped. "Tell Sunshine to tear open another one or something?! Believe it now, bitch, we're hopelessly lost in another realm and we could be here forever!"

"Mom!" Sunshine shouted. "Stop arguing!"

Marisa and Alice looked over at Sunshine.

"Arguing won't help anything!"

Marisa nudged Alice. "See, kid's got a point. Arguin' won't get us anywhere. We just gotta examine the situation, and see where we go from there!" She started looking around. "Now, just where the heck even...are...we…?"

Marisa trailed off, as her eyes wandered around. Staring blankly, she studied the room.

"Marisa?" Alice asked.

"This place…" Marisa muttered.

"What is it?" Alice asked softly.

The room fell silent as Marisa looked around. To her, this place seemed… familiar…

Eventually, her eyes trained onto Reimu.

"...Marisa?" Reimu asked.

Marisa was surprised. "...who are you?"

Reimu got out her gohei and slung it over her shoulder. "Just the laziest shrine maiden around. Remember? You haven't gotten me back for those mushrooms."

It took Marisa a moment to process this before she teared up, smiled, and ran over to Reimu, squeezing her.

"Hahahahaha!" Marisa laughed. "I can't believe I found ya, you big bastard!"

"Urhg," Reimu gagged. "Choking, not breathing!"

Marisa let go, and put her arms to her side. "Man, I didn't think I'd find ya here! But man, you look different!"

"Right back at you!" Reimu countered. "What's with the hair and eyes? You look just like Lillie and Gladion over here!"

"Well, I guess that makes two of-" She then realized what Reimu just said, and looked over at Gladion.

The two stared at each other for a long time.

"Are you…?" Gladion asked.

Marisa answered, "is that… you?"

Gladion knew he had to say something to prove this really was his sister. "Remember, when you three? You got in trouble when you left that chocolate-covered frozen fish in the freezer?"

...Oh right, the chocolate-covered fish!

She rushed right over, and they hugged each other, sobbing and smiling.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" Marisa shouted. "I'm finally home! I'm finally home after all these years!" It was amazing: it was the first time anyone had ever seen Gladion genuinely happy.

"Hey!" Alice shouted.

"How did you-?" Gladion asked.

"How did you-?" Marisa said right back. "I mean, I just can't believe-"

"HEY!" Alice shouted again. "What's going on here?!"

Marisa pointed to Gladion. "Alice, this is my brother, Gladion!"

"Hi!" Gladion waved.

Alice froze, and then face-faulted. She couldn't believe it: they ended up in Marisa's home dimension, _by chance? _

She got back up and fixed her clothes. "Hmph… hmm! Sorry about that," she apologized. "I… didn't realize we actually came to your home."

"I can't believe it either!" Marisa shouted. "It's like a damn miracle!"

Alice shook Gladion's hand. "Sorry for not properly introducing myself. My name is Alice Margatroid. I'm Marisa's friend."

"Nice to meet you," Gladion smiled. He then noticed Sunshine hiding behind Alice. "I'm sorry, who is… she?"

Alice looked behind her. "Oh? Oh, she must be a little shy. This is Sunshine, our daughter."

Upon hearing that, Gladion went from being extremely happy to his brain bending over itself.

"Your… what?"

"It's complicated," Marisa said. "Let's just say we're magicians."

Gladion smiled, looked down, and chuckled. "Well, of course you're a magician. I mean, why else would you wear ridiculous clothes like that?"

"I could say the same," Marisa said back. "Didn't mom tell ya to dress better than THAT? You look like a damn druggie!"

Both of them laughed at that one. That was when Marisa looked over to Lillie.

"And you?" she asked.

Lillie was caught off-guard, but nervously she walked forward. "Um… I'm Lillie. I'm his… brother."

"Oh?" Marisa asked. Then, she smiled. "Well, I guess that makes you my little sister."

"Little...sister?" Lillie stammered.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Reimu sarcastically remarked.

Marisa shot her a glare for a moment, before offering to shake Lillie's hand, which she nervously did.

"Oh, yeah, speaking of mom, where is she?" Marisa asked.

Nervously, Lillie pointed to Lusamine. "...over there…"

Marisa looked over to their mom. In an instant, she went from happy to horrified, and immediately rushed over to her limp, unconscious body thrown against the wall.

"No, no please!" she exclaimed. "Please don't let her…"

She checked her pulse, then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank GOD," she said. "She's just had her lights knocked out." She got back up. "But we gotta get her help."

"I can get her to the medical office," Wicke offered. She looked over to Guzma. "You will help me, right?"

Guzma, still extremely lost on what was going on, said, "I guess. I mean, I have no idea what the hell is goin' on right now." He sighed. "Can I leave after this? This all is way too much for me."

"We still need to question you, but we can do that in Malie City if you want so you can leave right after," Wicke told him.

"Don't care, just as long as I'm not in this bizarro house," he said. He sent out Golisopod, who slung Lusamine over its shoulder and followed Wicke and Guzma up the lift to the medical office.

Once they were gone, Marisa turned back to the group.

"Sooooo," she trailed on, "I got so much to tell you all!"

"Can we do it somewhere else?" Gladion asked. "The dining room, maybe? It's just upstairs."

"Sure!"

* * *

"...so that's how you became a magician," Gladion commented.

"Yup."

The group sat around the table and exchanged stories long into the night. When you've been separated from your home and your family for so many years, it's only natural. As Marisa told Gladion stories about her life, including incidents from her perspective and how Sunshine came around, so did Gladion tell of what their family was like in Marisa's and Mohn's absence.

Marisa slumped. "But man, I can't believe mom that far off her rocker. Wonder if somethin' happened."

"Well, I actually have a theory," Gladion said, "but I don't think you'd understand if I tried to explain it right now."

"Oh please, I've seen some really messed up stuff," Marisa joked, "I don't think you could tell me anything that I wouldn't understand."

"Well, alright," Gladion supposed. "So, there are other creatures that come from realms beyond the wormhole, and mom researched these. One of them is a jellyfish-like creature that can deliver neurotoxins. Mom must have come into contact with one at some point, causing her to go mad."

Reimu froze up.

"Huh?" Marisa wondered.

"Oh, uh, it's nothing," Reimu stammered.

Marisa rolled her eyes. "Whatever. So, that's what ya think, huh?"

"Yes," Gladion responded.

"Well, that would certainly explain the things she did. She must have been really shaken up by me and dad disappearing, and that poison made her go mad because of that. Basically, she had that in her and it made it much, much worse."

"Aether scientists did document that Nihilego toxin did enhance innate feelings and desires, and if that's what happened to mom, it kicked her guilt into overdrive and made her obsessive and possessive."

The table was silent for a moment, before Reimu changed the subject.

"If you don't mind, I would like to get back to the point," she said. "Necrozma is still loose, and we don't know where it went."

"True," Gladion said. "We should get to the bottom of this. We don't know what Necrozma's next move is going to be."

Reimu took out the Rotom Dex and pulled up a map. "I was going to go to Poni Island next and visit the Altar of the Sunne. Hopefully, I can get some more clues there." She took out Stardust's Pokeball. "I want to show you all something." She let out Stardust, and let everyone look at it.

Gladion was intrigued. "Interesting. So, you had a Cosmog too, and now it's a Cosmoem."

"Can I look at it?" Alice asked.

"Sure, go ahead," Reimu said.

Alice got a closer look at Stardust. "Amazing. It's like a baby star, a little galaxy, with all the stars…" She felt it some more. "It's really massive for its size, too. No doubt there's substansial power locked up in it."

Sunshine, who had been in the corner messing around with Hau's Nintendo Switch, suddenly got up and walked over to Stardust.

"Hm?" Alice wondered. Sunshine walked up next to her.

"Can I… feel it?" she asked softly.

Alice couldn't answer that question, but Reimu nodded hesitantly. Slowly, Sunshine reached out, and felt Stardust. Its body felt like the smoothest, purest glass ever fused. As she felt it, light glowed softly from her fingertips, and she seemed entranced by the small, yet supermassive being. As she traced her fingers across it, it left a trail of light which was slowly absorbed by Stardust.

Everyone else observed this scene with wonder. What exactly were they seeing here, they wondered? Could Sunshine have some sort of connection with Stardust? What could this mean?

After a couple minutes, Sunshine backed away from Stardust. Her expression returned to normal, but Alice couldn't help but ask her about what she saw.

"Sunshine?" Alice asked her.

"...it...spoke to me."

Alice, and everyone else, were a bit surprised. "Spoke to you?" Alice asked again.

"...it's strong," Sunshine explained. "It told me… it wants to bond with me… combine our strength. But it needs to become more powerful."

Gladion looked over to Marisa. "Say, didn't you mention that Sunshine's powers are like Necrozma's?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Marisa told him, "but her Photon Geyser attack and Necrozma's are a lot alike, and she can absorb light to power herself."

"Necrozma snatched up Nebby and took its power," Lillie said. "Now, it seems Sunshine is fixated on Stardust. What could this mean?"

Reimu thought about this for a second, then said, "so basically, Sunshine has powers like Necrozma's, and she's fixated on Stardust. This might be obvious, but perhaps Sunshine is another Necrozma."

The room fell silent.

"...another Necrozma?

"From what I've gathered, Solgaleo and Lunala are a species, not singular beings. What if the same is true of Necrozma? You said that Sunshine had been 'created' by Necrozma giving the original doll a genius." She got up. "I think Necrozma created another of its kind."

Everyone was stunned.

Alice was visibly struck. "I…" She couldn't believe it. But what Reimu said made too much sense. One of her dolls was impregnated with the soul of a god. She was utterly flabbergasted that, for all this time, she had been raising a god, and now she knew the identity of the "father."

Marisa slumped. "But _why? _Why would Necrozma do that? More importantly… what is its ultimate plan here?"

Reimu sighed. "I don't know, but I feel like the answer will become apparent at some point anyway. In any case," she looked at Stardust and Sunshine, "we now have two beings who can potentially open up Ultra Wormholes, and maybe even combat Necrozma. Let's just keep them safe for now while we come up with a plan."

She felt a poke. It was Lillie.

"Um, Reimu?" she asked.

"What is it?"

Lillie pointed at Hau, who was slumped over asleep on the table.

Gladion looked at his phone. "Well, it IS almost 11:00. I suppose we should all head to bed."

Marisa stretched her arms and yawned. "Yeah, I agree. We've all had a pretty big day."

So, all of them found their way to the bedrooms. Since Lusamine's room was empty, they all decided there was no issue in letting Marisa, Alice and Sunshine sleep in there. Gladion found his old room, as did Lillie. Hau slept on the floor next to Lillie, while Reimu crashed on the couch. As the lights were cut and Reimu felt herself drifting off, she couldn't help but ponder just how crazy things had gotten in such a short period of time. Not only did Marisa now join her in Alola, but this was actually her home. Reimu dreamed about all sorts of crazy ways that this incident could go.

But none of them were crazy enough. Not by a long shot.


	40. The Wings of Dawn

The castle was up in flames. Inside, Cloud and his wife lay on the floor, where they bled to death as the fire, smoke and heat overtook their corpses. The invaders had looted the castle and set fire to it behind them. Nothing inside was left alive, including Cloud's adviser, Sir Robin.

Violet and Maribel had managed to evade the intruders and escape the castle, but not before Maribel was gravely injured by falling debris. As Maribel fell unconscious, a distraught and traumatized Violet, who had only minor injuries, was forced to drag her sister's body over a wooded hill outside the estate.

Out of breath, on the verge of tears but knowing she had to help her sister, Violet unsuccessfully attempted to resuscitate Maribel. "Come on," she pleaded, "please wake up!"

But it was no use. Maribel was on the verge of death. Violet could see it: she saw the border of life and death within Maribel, as well as Maribel's soul moving toward that boundary. It wasn't slowing down fast enough to avoid crossing over. Only a few moments before Maribel passed on, and then Violet would truly be alone.

Violet hesitated to use her unique power, because only Maribel knew of it: when she first discovered it as a small child, she realized she would be branded a witch if anyone else found out about it. There was no hiding it from Maribel, but she could keep it secret from their parents and everyone else. And now, with no one else around aside from her and her dying sister, Violet knew the time had come to use her power like she never had before. Last night, she used it to steal some extra cake for herself. Now, she would attempt to violate natural law and bend the border of life and death itself.

Focusing hard and pressing her hands down on Maribel, Violet envisioned the border in her mind and began to bend it. She bent it far, she bent it hard, slowly at first but accelerating until, eventually, bending it so much that Maribel's soul would not cross it. The soul eventually stabilized. Maribel's life had been saved.

Exhausted, Violet collapsed onto the ground, where she almost fell asleep before being jostled by a bright, loud explosion over the horizon.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Violet screamed as she shot up and covered her eyes. In the distance, the Ultimate Weapon had succeeded in decimating the warring armies far, far away. As the flash died down, Violet instantly knew that the weapon had actually been fired, and the war was now over.

Looking down at Maribel, Violet knew what she had to do next. Even if her life had been saved, Violet realized Maribel was still in grave condition. Her first thought was to fetch her food and water. As much as she didn't want to leave her sister's side, so too did she not want her starving or dying of thirst, so she took off into the forest in search of something to feed her.

The forest was dark, vast and foreboding, but that didn't concern Violet. Her only concern was nursing her sister's condition. As she desperately looked around, trying to find a spring or a creek or some edible berries, her exhaustion from her bending the border began creeping back up to her. Fighting it, she continued her desperate search, but she was soon overcome with dizziness, lightheadedness and hallucinations as her mental vitality drained. Finding herself in a daze, Violet felt as though the forest itself were spinning around, shadows were popping in and out of the trees, and whispery voices all around. Disoriented and her consciousness failing her, Violet passed out, too incapacitated to register the Ultra Wormhole which had opened up next to her and sucked her in.

A few hours passed, and Maribel still lay on the ground, clinging onto life. A man riding a Rapidash noticed her as he crested the hill.

"Hey!" he shouted. "I found one! It's a child!"

Soon, the man was joined by his comrades, and it didn't take long for the field commander to arrive on the scene on his Charizard. They were all part of a contingent sent by Lord Kirisame when he had heard of the sneak attack on Anistar, and they were searching for survivors.

The commander dismounted and examined Maribel. "Well, I'll be damned," he remarked. "This is one of Cloud's children. She managed to make it out somehow." He felt her neck to check for a pulse. "Amazing. Her wounds should be fatal, but she's alive."

"What should we do?" a soldier asked. "If she's one of Lord Cloud's children…"

The commander picked her up. "I will take her back to Lord Kirisame's estate at once. I am transferring command to you for the time being."

"Understood," the soldier replied. The field commander propped Maribel onto his Charizard and flew back while the contingent continued their recovery mission. In the end, it was determined that Maribel was the sole survivor of the attack on the Cloud manor, as her sister could not be found and everyone else was dead.

Back at the House of Kirisame, all of Kirisame's best doctors and Chanseys got to work on Maribel, giving her medicine, treating her injuries, and overall attempting to restore her health. Kirisame's son, Wes, insisted on staying by her side to oversee her recovery. Within days, Maribel regained consciousness, and the first thing she saw was Wes. Wes explained to her that there were no other survivors of the attack on her home, and she could not go back. Maribel realized what this meant, mourned her family and cursed the attackers, but was glad to hear that all the attackers had been killed by Kirisame's men.

Maribel's recovery took months, during which Wes would come to her side daily to tend to her. As they did, the two children began to form a bond with each other. Both weren't entirely sure what this bond was, but they soon felt that they wanted to be with each other as much as possible. In due time, the two began to smile when they saw each other.

Six months after the war ended, Maribel made a full recovery. Since she didn't have a home to go back to, she decided to live at the Kirisame estate from then on, and hers and Wes's bond grew even stronger until, as teenagers, they clearly understood it as love. In time, the couple married, and had three sons, all of whom had large families of their own. And thus, the genesis of the Kirisame empire, which would go on to control the world over the course of the next 3000 years. Maribel outlived her husband and lived to the age of 108, all the while never knowing what ultimately became of her sister, since her body was never found.

* * *

The mood at the Scarlet Devil Mansion was tense. As before, the three sages sat at the head of the banquet table while Remilia observed the meeting from the balcony overhead. Notably absent from the meeting were Marisa and Alice; the news had started to percolate that they chased a shadowy figure through the wormhole observed earlier that day, but nobody really new for sure anything past that. In their place was Yuuka, with two Ultra Beasts and a renegade amanojaku in tow. Just her mere presence was making many of the others uneasy, with even Byakuren and Shou, who were sitting next to her, keeping their distance from her. Also asked to come was Sekibanki and her Blacephelon, who seemed adversarial to Stakataka for some reason, but no one knew why.

"Thank you for coming," Yukari said to Yuuka. "I was not expecting you to actually come."

"Anything for the sages of Gensokyo," Yuuka coyly smiled. "Plus, I am here for business, as well."

"Of course," Yukari said, snapping her fingers. This cued Sanae to come to them with shimenawa ropes and some of Remilia's fairy maids in tow. Yuuka motioned Buzzwole to let Sanae tie Seija up. Yukari shot Seija a glare and threatened, "we'll deal with _you _later." Seija couldn't help but smirk as Sanae marched her downstairs to a holding cell next to Flandre's room where the plan was to later execute her by playmate.

Yukari turned her attention back to the group. "Now then, we've all had an extremely eventful past few days. Some of you have had run-ins with ultradimentional beasts. For two of you, at least, you ran into these by chance and have now been summoned here. We'll start with Sekibanki." She turned to Sekibanki. "You met your friend while living in that cave, correct?"

"I guess," Sekibanki shrugged. "I mean, it was just wandering around the woods and after we had a heart-to-heart it assumed I was family. It's been living with me since then. All I could gather was that it was thrown through a wormhole by a scary creature of some sort." Blacephalon was rolling its head around slightly.

"Hmm," Yukari mused. "Alright." She then turned to Mokou. "Mokou, you remember when you told us of the Celesteela, correct. Would you like to tell everyone else?"

"Yeah," Mokou said while snuffing a cigarette. "It told me basically the same thing as that thing over there: that it was thrown through the wormhole by a big scary creature." Celesteela was still embedded at the hot spring, a spot from which it had not moved since that day.

"Interesting," Yukari noted. So far, she could pick up a common thread between all of these beasts: all were more or less minding their own beeswax when a big, scary, black crystalline creature appeared out of nowhere and threw them through the wormhole to Gensokyo for some purpose.

She turned to Satori next. "Satori, you say that a wire creature appeared in your home today?"

"Correct," Satori said. "It told me much the same thing: a scary creature which uprooted it and threw it here into Gensokyo."

Sakuya was next, and told of not one, but two mysterious creatures which she had encountered, one of which nearly killed her and the other saved her life.

"Hah…" she sighed before starting. "Where do I even begin? At first, it was a routine grocery run, until I encountered it. It was cat-like, but also like an alien, and it had powerful psychic abilities. It challenged me to a fight and almost beat me, before another being that looked like a cockroach came in and kicked it down to the ground. I got away as they were fighting."

Ran's ears perked up. "A strange being with psychic abilities?"

"Yes," Sakuya confirmed.

"Hmm…" Ran was deeply troubled. Ever since Katsura died, Ran had spent a significant amount of time trying to find her killer, but they proved elusive. There was, however, one instance where she caught sight of a white figure with a purple tail, similar to the one Sakuya described, deep within the Youkai Forest. She recalled that it noticed her, then surrounded itself in a blue aura and flew away, perhaps sensing that it was no match for the powerful nine-tailed kitsune. Ran had not seen it since, but had a feeling it was the being which killed Katsura. The cockroach creature, however, was completely new and Ran did not recall ever seeing anything like it.

Aya stepped forward and said, "I actually caught pictures of the fight."

"Of course you have," Sakuya said rolling her eyes. Aya put her camera in a device connected to the projector which allowed it to pull pictures from her camera. It had a few pictures of Mewtwo, but only one blurry picture of Pheromosa, who moved so fast that even Aya had trouble keeping up with its movements. However, some in the room recognized Mewtwo from rumors of a powerful telekinetic creature that lurked in Gensokyo, supposedly so powerful that even most youkai avoided it when they saw it. Now, these rumors appeared true.

"Now, this is all interesting," Patchouli said butting in, "but I have probably the best evidence of anyone here in this room… aside from Yuuka, perhaps." She took out the Chronicle of the Sunne and Moone and plopped it on the table before reading select passages, including nearly the entire Tale of the Alolan Prince, Necrozma and how it was fought off by the Island Guardians, Solgaleo and Lunala, as well as a new discovery.

"Now listen to this," she announced:

_But let it be known that the threat of the Beast who Steals the Light, Necrozma, will return five-hundred years after the battle to bring ruin to the world as the Wings of Dawn. The Alolan Prince, Kamehameha, will return to face it, leading the Mane of Dusk, the Guardian of Order, the spectacled disciple, the witches in wings of black, and all eighteen colors to strike it down for good. _

Everyone sitting at the long table and standing to the sides had their own thoughts and interpretations of the text and the prophecy at the end.

"Necrozma," Mokou commented, flicking another cigarette. "If that doesn't scream supervillain, I don't know what does. Sounds a little childish, too."

"Childish or no, we're talking about a tremendously powerful entity," Kanako said. "If Patchouli's text is accurate, it took the combined forces of six other deities to defeat it. From what I can gather, it isn't even at its full power."

Kasen slumped. "What bothers me the most is that prophecy at the end. Most especially because the clues are so vague." She looked up. "It mentioned 500 years. Do you happen to know how old the text is?"

"I did carbon-date the text," Patchouli told her. "It is approximately 500 years old."

"Argh, it's just like a story," Reisen groaned. "It always just so happens to be X years from when the event took place."

"Not necessarily," Patchouli said. "After all, these other realms may be in different points in time than our own, especially since this is clearly a different world. 500 years for them may be a different stretch of time or a different time period altogether for us. These events may have happened long ago, or the original event may even have yet to happen."

"...I disagree," said Seiran, who was at the meeting after asking the sages for permission to be there. She and Ringo had heard rumors of an incident involving an otherworldly monster on the moon, which coincided with both of them getting a shiver at the exact moment Chang'e was swallowed. "Let me tell you why: we've been seeing this Necrozma going around recently. That means something is up. If the event had been resolved or had yet to happen, I doubt this would all be happening right now. Plus, don't you think it more than a little odd that this book just so happened to pop up in our realm recently, and it just so happens to be dated 500 years old? I think it was sent to us, either by someone or something trying to warn us, or even Necrozma itself taunting us. And if the latter is true…"

Kasen shook her head. "Let's not over-speculate for now. Getting back to the prophecy, the clues are very hard to understand, which makes sense since this is another world that we're talking about. It mentions the prince making a return, which wouldn't normally make sense since if he's a normal human - and there's nothing in the text suggesting he isn't - he would have long since died. Either he achieved immortality somehow, reincarnated, or some combination of the two. Most of the others I can't figure out what they would be, other than that logically, the 'Mane of Dusk,' is some sort of opposing force to Necrozma, itself interesting since 'Wings of Dawn' and 'Mane of Dusk' could be compared to the lion and bat deities in this story. But the one that strikes me the most is 'the witches in wings of black.' We already know that Marisa and Alice disappeared earlier today fighting it, and they have that red-and-black starship. That means they could be tied up in this prophecy somehow."

"But there's a problem with that story," Aya said, flipping to another set of pictures she took of the witch's fight with Necrozma earlier that day. For most people in the room, it was their first clear view of Necrozma, and the reactions were varied: some were undaunted, some were unnerved, others were taken aback at just how alien this thing was compared to anything in Gensokyo. "They didn't use the Black Arwing during the fight. I also checked their house just before coming here, and it's still parked there. That means unless it ends up in this other world later some other way, the prophecy could refer to something else. After all, we all know prophecies are known for being vague and non-literal."

Yukari rubbed her chin. "Well, if that's the case, then perhaps now is the time for us to turn to our surest evidence yet." She turned to face Yuuka and Buzzwole. "You said that other beast can talk. Can we go speak to it?"

"Yes, of course, it's just outside. It didn't fit in the mansion, so I had to leave it out there. You don't mind coming out to talk to it, do you?"

"Of course not," Yukari said. She and the other two sages followed Yuuka out the doors. Everyone else stayed inside, since they figured Stakataka would be scared if they all came out at once. They decided this counted as a break, so Sakuya took the time to lay out snacks for everyone (but no drinks, since Yukari requested that everyone remain sober until the meeting was adjourned).

* * *

Outside the mansion, Yuuka and Buzzwole led the sages (plus Satano and Mai, who never left Okina's side) to Stakataka. Meiling was next to it making sure it didn't try to run off.

"Oh yes, if you're wondering about the reward," Yukari said to Yuuka, "it will be paid after the meeting. I will also double it, both for your time today and because you've brought us such a major tip."

"Fufufu," Yuuka snickered, "are you trying to ravish me, Yukarin?"

Yukari rolled her eyes. She might be a coy trickster, but even someone as unique as Yuuka could be a handful sometimes.

"...anyway," she said changing the subject. She turned to face Stakataka. "So, unlike all the others you can actually talk. Tell us a little about yourself."

"Me Stakataka," it said. "Pleased to make acquaintance."

"It is my pleasure," Yukari said.

"Green hair lady tell me you run the place."

"You could say that," Yukari answered, "although I usually leave all the hard work to the shrine maiden who is not with us right now. It is important to us that she return safely. We think that you might be able to point us in that direction, based on your interactions."

"Big words are big," Stakataka grunted. "Me only know I got dumped here by big, scary black thing. Thing says I act like an anchor, or something."

Yukari pursed her lips. "An anchor? How so? What kind of 'anchor' are you acting as?"

"It not really say," Stakataka said. "It just say me carry Ultra Radiation for going through wormhole. It say enough of that will make mission easier."

"Ultra Radiation?" Yukari asked cocking an eyebrow. "What is that?"

Suddenly, Stakataka flared up with orange radiation. "This Ultra Radiation. Me got it on me in Ultra Space." The sudden burst of radiation prompted everyone to go into attack stance, before they realized it wasn't a threat and so they backed down.

The things Stakataka was saying was leaving Yukari with more questions than answers. Ultra Space? Mission? What did this all mean?

She turned around to Okina. "I remember you said you were trying to come up with a theory. What are your thoughts?"

"Yes, about that," Okina replied. "Last night I wrote down some of the things people were telling me about these beasts. All the beasts have something in common: they were pulled through a wormhole by, presumably, Necrozma, for some sort of purpose. If what Stakataka is saying here is true for all of them, then it sounds like they're all carrying this 'Ultra Radiation' which sticks to them. It might not necessarily matter where the creatures come from or what their characteristics are, since it sounds like most of them hail from different worlds from each other." She cleared her throat. "What matters is, they all pick up this radiation en route, and it sticks to them causing the radiation to have a permanent presence here in Gensokyo. At least, that's my understanding. And it sounds to me like Necrozma is trying to introduce a sufficient amount of this radiation in order to do... something. Exactly what, we don't know."

"Is the radiation dangerous?" Kasen asked.

"No, it's not toxic like nuclear radiation," Okina said. "Instead, it feels more like background seasonal energy, although this radiation is several orders of magnitude stronger than any seasonal energy. Just a small amount of it can make anything exceptionally powerful. I first noticed a spike in it fourteen years ago, although I didn't know what it was at the time. However, now that I think back, I did feel an odd energy signature around Marisa Kirisame, which the Ultra Radiation around these beasts feels similar to."

Yukari paused. "So, what you're suggesting is..."

"This is just a guess, but I think Marisa came from some other world the same as these beasts. Could it have been a precursor to this incident? I'm not sure."

Yukari thought for a moment, then said, "now that you mention it, she and her father always seemed very strange. I knew that they were Outsiders, but they would always dodge my questions about their lives prior to being transported here. Most humans who slip through the barrier will readily go on about where they come from and what their lives before coming here were like. And I also did not feel any actual incursion in the Hakurei Border around that time, which means they came through via some other method. An extra-dimensional portal would bypass the barrier." She sighed. "I'm not sure why I didn't come to this conclusion earlier, but they must have to have come from some other realm."

"But what realm could they have come from?" Okina asked.

Yukari felt like she knew the answer: Marisa had, on some occasions, confided knowledge which struck her as familiar…

"Is something the matter?" Okina asked.

"Oh, sorry, it's nothing," Yukari said.

"In any case," Kasen cut in, "it seems clear to me: Necrozma is the culprit of this incident. The question now is, how do we corner it, how do we beat it, how do we get it to return Reimu to Gensokyo?"

Then, all of them heard an alien roar come from the sky.

All of them looked up, and saw a strange, purple wasp-dragon swooping down toward the mansion gate. And accompanying it was a most curious figure.

The sages, Yuuka and the dancers all turned to face Ultra Reimu as she touched down onto the ground. Just looking at her, it was obvious that it wasn't the real Reimu, and not just because of the purple miko outfit.

"Good evening," she greeted them politely. "You must be the one called Yukari Yakumo."

Yukari took a battle stance as she walked up to face the fake. "And you? A doppleganger of Reimu-san, I presume?"

"...I…" Like Ultra Marisa/Alice before her, Ultra Reimu was met with a brief identity crisis, before snapping back to reality. "I serve the one who steals the light. I act as an extention of his power."

"The one who steals the light… Necrozma?" Yukari asked.

"That is the name given to him in Alolan legend," Ultra Reimu said. "An incident over one-thousand years ago left him incomplete, and ever since then he's been searching for a way to reach his full strength. Five-hundred years ago, he found Alola, a land bathed in mystical light from the sun and the moon which he could feed on, but was banished by the Island Guardians and the beasts of sunne and moone."

Kasen looked at Yukari. "That must be the legend in Patchouli's book."

"Necrozma has a plan to become whole," Ultra Reimu continued. "He has observed this land for generations, living among you as one of many youkai who call this place home. A youkai of darkness, the perfect cover for one who feeds on light."

"Rumia," Yukari said, slightly shocked. "I knew Rumia kept secrets, but to think…"

"Or perhaps, think of it this way," Okina suggested. "Necrozma may not be the best with Japanese. What if, instead of 'Rumia,' it was perhaps 'Lumia,' as in, 'luminescent?'"

"Gheeeh," Yukari grunted in frustration, "hundreds of years and not once did that cross my mind…"

"And now that Necrozma has gained sufficient power, the time has come for the great transformation. All these beasts who carry radiation from Ultra Space have served to prepare the Hakurei Border for the infusion of Ultra Radiation. But this land is not stable for Ultra Radiation, and must be replaced…"

All of a sudden, Yukari raised her hand and numerous Shiki-Ouji emerged from the ground to fight alongside her, Kasen waved her hand and many beasts came to her side, and Okina gathered her servants to her sides. Yuuka, not wanting to be outdone, summoned a huge flower vine with tentacles while glaring, and even Buzzwole, who had come to be loyal to her, took a fighting stance.

"I think I've heard all I need to," Yukari said threateningly. "You and your master have proven to be threats to the Great Hakurei Border and Gensokyo itself. The punishment for that crime is death." It took no time for Ran and Chen to come to her sides, appearing through gaps which Yukari created. "Now, how do you wish for death to embrace you?"

Ultra Reimu understood that she had now been threatened with death. Whipping out her gohei, she tossed out a spell card, similar to Reimu's Fantasy Seal attack, then followed it up with a volley of needles, while Naganadel also leapt into action to defend its master. Yukari weaved in and out of the bullets and took a moment to collect herself.

"Everyone," she said to the others, "this Reimu might be a fake, but it's clear she's at least as powerful as the real one. This might be a many-on-one fight, but I still want you all to regroup if you think we're at a disadvantage."

"What about that dragon?" Ran asked. "It hasn't attacked yet. We don't know what it can do."

"Probe its attack pattern and try to exploit a weakness," Yukari commanded. "Now then, it's showtime!"

Each of Yukari's Shiki-Ouji acted as ground turrets spraying danmaku from their arms at Ultra Reimu, while Yukari danced, flanked and skirted around her attacks. Powerful though she was, Yukari knew all of Reimu's tricks, especially since she taught her most of them. In particular, she understood that as powerful as she and the other sages were, Reimu's ofuda and holy magic was still able to fell them as readily as any other youkai if she felt like it, but after a few minutes she figured out that this fake Reimu did not use those kinds of attacks, taking a lot of pressure off of Yukari and allowing her to just focus on the fight.

Yukari decided to take advantage of the distraction that the others were causing with their attacks to take a short trip to the old station, which by now had come to be her signature "kill move." Opening up a gap, it took mere moments for an abandoned metro train to come barreling through the gap at more than 150 kph with Ultra Reimu within its sights. The rumbling rusty hunk of metal and glass careened through the air and threatened to turn Ultra Reimu into roadkill. Just before making impact, though, Ultra Reimu spun around, held up her gohei and immediately summoned an Ultra Wormhole to swallow the train right up.

"Fufufu," Yukari muttered, "so, another portal-user? This will be a most interesting fight." Yukari quickly guessed that Ultra Reimu's power to open up wormholes was most likely lent by Necrozma, the same way that the Hakurei Shrine god was the source of Reimu's powers, and that this was what she could do in place of most of Reimu's holy magic. Thus, the battle soon evolved into "portal combat" between the sage and the faker, with each one firing off skills which the other parried with their respective barrier-bending powers. In all her years, it was the closest Yukari had ever come to a mirror match.

By now, most of the members of the border patrol picked up on the commotion outside and went out to investigate, where most of them instantly became confused upon seeing Ultra Reimu and Naganadel squaring off with the sages. Realizing that this fake Reimu had to be a threat or else Yukari wouldn't be fighting her, they all began to dive into the fight one-by-one, firing off their most powerful attacks aimed straight at Ultra Reimu. Seeing this opprotunity, Okina had an idea.

"I'm going to open backdoors on all the fighters here," she told Yukari. "That way, that fake Reimu will stand no chance of winning."

"Be my guest," Yukari offered. And just as Okina promised, one snap of the fingers was all it took for doors to open on the backs of all the combatants. All around, everyone from the Eientei crew to the buddhists to the taos had their strength jacked up to unimaginable levels, allowing their attacks to hit harder, faster and more accurately. In addition, doors opened up on the backs of statues and animals in the vicinity, causing them to all turn into youkai and join in on the frenzy.

Yukari floated in front of Ultra Reimu and sneered, "it would seem you have become outmatched. If you concede right now we might decide to spare your life."

But Ultra Reimu was unfettered. Quickly, she rose her gohei up, and within moments, dozens of Ultra Wormholes burst open all around the mansion, flooding the area with hundreds of varieties of Pokemon all jacked up on Ultra Radiation. All around, there were Charizards, Gyaradoses, Hydreigons, Milotics, Gengars, Aegislashes, Flygons, Eeveelutions, Arcanines, and other powerful varieties all raring for a showdown. High on Ultra Radiation, even a common Skarmory was able to go toe-to-toe with an old, formidable and highly trained Lunarian soldier such as Reisen, and this proved to be just the reinforcements needed to balance out the fight.

Naganadel proved its chops as Ultra Reimu's right hand mon, being able to spew poison from its stinger by the gallon, which it soon found had the effect of canceling out Okina's backdoor buffs. It also managed to evade Shou's infamous curving lasers before felling her with Draco Meteor; backed up by Nasty Plot, not even Bishamonten's Pagoda was of any use resisting the attack. Eventually, it was Cirno of all people who puzzled out its Ice weakness, and used that as leverage to help combat it. Satori also managed to figure out its weakness to psychokinetic attacks and used that knowledge to assist the ice fairy.

Weaving in and out of the chaos, Kasen attempted to find an opening to attack Ultra Reimu. She was caught off-guard, however, when a Dratini kicked up by the fray and landed right in front of her, injured. Sensing the baby dragon's pain and after a moment's hesitation, she scooped it up and took it over to a safe spot before tending to its wounds. Even though technically it was a foe, it was also a baby animal taken from its home realm forcefully, and Kasen was not about to abandon it.

"There there, little one," she said tenderly. "I will make sure you heal from your wounds." She reached for her box of medicine and began to administer it. Within moments, the little Dratini's injuries were fully healed, and it was back in fighting mode, even giving Kasen an excited tail wiggle and smile. Kasen went back to the fight, but noticed the Dratini following her. Realizing she had just saved its life and it was following her around because of that, she decided to just let it.

Ultra Reimu wasn't done summoning reinforcements, and soon decided to bring out the big guns once the Ultra Radiation on the regular Pokemon began to falter and the youkai were starting to get the upper hand. Raising her gohei again, she summoned two more wormholes, one right near the battlefield and the other beneath the surface of the Misty Lake. The fighters didn't notice this, until a large, red, glowing orb descended down from the land-based portal and caught the attention of mostly everyone. At the same time, a large, blue orb materialized underneath the water, causing catfish in the area to scatter.

Yukari and Okina took a moment to observe the red orb, which shone with a strong, crimson aura. An omega symbol lit up on it, and it was then that Yukari sensed an unbelievable power within it.

"What is this?" she wondered. "A god?"

She got her answer when cracks formed in the orb, letting pink and yellow lights out and creating a small earthquake, until finally the whole thing shattered into thousands of pieces, sending ruby shards everywhere and causing the two sages to flinch. When Yukari was able to look back, she could not believe her eyes: a titanic, reptilian creature with yellow energy coursing between red plated skin, huge claws, a crested head and letting out a deafening roar. The Continent Pokemon, Primal Groudon.

Mere moments later, azure lights erupted from the Misty Lake, before giving way to a bursting water column from which a gargantuan blue whale-like creature emerged with a piercing shriek: the King of the Sea, Primal Kyogre.

The two opposing forces, Land and Sea, Drought and Deluge, immediately threw Gensokyo's weather out of whack just by being there: around Groudon, a burning, parching drought fueled by the sun burning the sky and the air. Around Kyogre, a mini-hurricane filled with lightning, torrential rain, hail, and gale-force winds whipping around it. Every single Pokemon and unnamed youkai instinctively stopped fighting and got the hell out of there, not wanting to get caught up in the titans' wrath. The rest of the fighters turned their attention to quelling the beasts' rage, but it was a futile cause: supercharged by Ultra Radiation and without the moderating influence of either Rayquaza or their respective orbs, the two titans made mincemeat of their foes: Sanae, Aya, Momiji and Hatate were all struck down by Kyogre's Thunder, its Ice Beam downed Tenshi, Mokou and Yuuka, and finally, its powerful Origin Pulse wiped out all of Byakuren's and Miko's combined forces who were still standing, among others.

With Kasen having pulled out of the fight to assist Eirin in getting care to the injured fighters, youkai and Pokemon, Yukari, Okina and the dancers were left to try and tackle Ultra Reimu and Primal Groudon both at once, with the only respite being that Cirno had managed to knock out Naganadel before succumbing to exhaustion. Okina ordered her faithful servants to attack with danmaku, but the lasers just bounced off Groudon's rock-hard hide. Groudon then mustered the power of the earth beneath it, and in just one fluid motion sent out a devastating Precipice Blades which skewered all three and caused them to fall to the ground.

Exhausted, bleeding and at wit's end, Yukari attempted one last attack, only to see Ultra Reimu holding up her gohei once more and borrowing her god's power to charge up Photon Geyser. With no time to dodge, Yukari threw up several gaps to catch the attack, only for the energy ball to plow through and shatter each and every single one. Not even the boundary youkai's powers were enough to nullify this attack, and it struck her, creating a brilliant explosion and column of light as the sage fell down to the ground.

The fight now seemed hopeless. The only fighters who weren't incapacitated or trying to assist the wounded could do little but cower at the sight of the two beheamoths and the otherworldly shrine maiden commanding them. Yukari fully expected Groudon or Kyogre to finish them off, but instead, once the smaller enemies were downed the two turned their attention towards each other and reinitiated their age-old clash, causing the weather to become even more unstable and the very land itself to tear itself up as the beasts smashed, bashed and blasted at each other.

"This is absolute disaster," Okina said weakly trying to pry herself off the ground. "Those two beasts will spell the end of Gensokyo as we know it."

"Only a miracle can save us now," Yukari choked up. "At this point, all that's left is…"

At that moment, a mighty roar cut through the sky.

"What was that?!" someone shouted. Everyone in Gensokyo, from the village to the remote mountaintops, looked up, and saw the sun beaming through the clouds. Through them, a massive, mighty, serpantine dragon, covered in rainbow scales and feathers, with two long horns on its head and long whiskers above its jaws, descended from the heavens. One flap of its mighty wings dispelled Kyogre's storms, and the force of its very body and of its roar caused the earth to tremble.

It was the most powerful being in all of Gensokyo, the one who created it and the one who watched over land, sea, sky and the stars: the Gensokyo Great Dragon.

The sages could hardly believe what they were seeing. The Great Dragon, a most spectacular force matched by none, had not been seen since the creation of the Hakurei Border, and now had decided that, with Reimu gone, the sages in defeat and two titans warring, now was the time to intervene.

Some were silent, others, even goddesses, felt compelled to bow down to its majesty. Just its very presence humbled even the most arrogant and powerful youkai, hermits and goddesses, and inspired fear, awe and respect among the humans. And in just one motion, the Great Dragon effortlessly knocked out the Weather Titans, draining their power and sealing them into their weaker forms before dispatching them in one fell swoop.

Everyone, now reinvigorated by the dragon's presence, got back on their feet and cheered it on as it confronted Ultra Reimu. Ultra Reimu now found herself facing a force of nature with no allies. Lasers spewed forth from the Great Dragon, its mystical fire breathed from its mouth and its wings whipping up cutting winds, all of which Ultra Reimu was forced to dodge while trying to attack. The Great Dragon, of course, nullified everything she tried, even being able to break the Ultra Wormholes which she summoned. If ever there was a doubt of its power, those doubts were now long gone.

Everyone cheered, whistled and pumped their fists as the fight appeared to be in the sack. Yukari took a moment to look around to see everyone else rooting for the dragon, when she noticed something odd.

"Okina?" she asked. "Is it just me, or does it seem a bit… faded out here?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Okina said.

"I mean, the color. It seems… faded, somehow."

Okina looked around, and Yukari seemed to have a point: the colors around them did seem faded and washed-out… and it was graying out, fast.

No one else seemed to notice until the Dragon's rainbow scales no longer sparkled, and the brilliant orange sunset dulled considerably. People stopped cheering and looked around.

"What the…" Mokou could see the red on her pants draining away, and then the ground's color turned gray as it all receded away from her. For their part, neither the Dragon nor Ultra Reimu seemed to notice, too focused on their fight, but everyone else watched as Gensokyo itself greyed out.

They all looked around to try and find the cause. It didn't take long: in the sky above, a dark figure was absorbing the color, obscuring the sun in such a way as to give the impression of a solar eclipse. It brimmed with lights for a few seconds once all the color was gone.

Before Yukari could say anything, the whole scene flashed white, with everyone and everything rendered into a black silohouette. A bright laser was fired from the figure, aimed straight at the Great Dragon. Not a noise was made in those split seconds until it struck the Dragon, straight in the heart, making the sound of shattering glass.

The whiteness faded and the color returned. Moments after Yukari uncovered her eyes to see what had happened, the Great Dragon's whole body struck the ground, causing the earth to quake. By its heart, a bloody wound where the laser had struck. The Dragon was still alive, but just barely, and had been decisively knocked out.

The sages, all three of them, were silent. Slowly, they walked up to the Dragon, realizing what had just happened. Yukari slowly reached out and touched the Dragon. Her hand was trembling, as now she knew, even Gensokyo's greatest guardian had fallen.

The figure soon made itself known to the sages by letting loose a distorted cry before slowly descending to their level. As it did, they looked up, stepped back, and gradually held up their hands in surrender with looks of fear on their faces. In front of them, the thing which defeated the Great Dragon: the Wings of Dawn, Necrozma.

"W-w-who are you?" Yukari stammered.

Necrozma did not immediately respond. Ultra Reimu floated down to its side.

"I SAID, WHO ARE YOU?" Yukari shouted.

Necrozma looked around, first at the Dragon, then at the two weather titans, before finally answering in a booming, masculine telekinenic voice. "I APOLOGIZE FOR THE DAMAGE MY SERVANT CAUSED. SHE IS STILL LEARNING HER POWER." Necrozma lifted one claw, and in one swipe, lights erupted from the ground. When they died down, all the damage caused by the battle was restored, including the Great Dragon's wound, although it was still unconcious.

"...are you… Necrozma?" Kasen asked it.

Necrozma answered, "I AM THE ONE TOLD IN ALOLAN LEGEND AS THE BEAST WHO STEALS THE LIGHT. MY SOLE MISSION IS TO ATTAIN MY FULL POWER AND SPREAD THE LIGHT TO PREVENT THE WORLD FROM MEETING RUIN."

Okina looked around. "Are you kidding?! You just knocked the Gensokyo Great Dragon out cold! You call this averting ruin?"

"THE GREAT DRAGON WILL RECOVER FROM ITS INJURIES. IT WAS AN UNFORTUNATE BUT NECESSARY PART OF MY MISSION."

The three sages and everyone else held their breath as Necrozma continued on. "FOR ONE-THOUSAND YEARS, I HAVE DRIFTED THROUGH ULTRA SPACE, OBSERVING DIFFERENT WORLDS THROUGH THE WORMHOLES. IN THAT TIME, I HAVE BECOME NOTED IN THE LEGENDS OF MANY CULTURES. MY MISSION, HOWEVER, IS A SIMPLE ONE." It looked around, then said, "GENSOKYO, AS IT STANDS, IS UNSTABLE. I WAS PRESENT AT THE CREATION OF THE GREAT HAKUREI BORDER, AND SINCE THAT TIME, I HAVE DISCOVERED WEAKNESSES WITHIN IT. THE BORDER WILL SOON BECOME UNSTABLE AND FALL, TAKING WITH IT ALL MAGICAL CREATURES ON THIS EARTH. IN ORDER TO ENSURE THE CONTINUED SURVIVAL OF YOUR KIND, GENSOKYO MUST BE REPLACED."

"_ Replaced? _" Kasen asked forcefully. "Explain yourself!"

"GENSOKYO AS IT IS KNOWN MUST BE REPLACED TO ALLOW THE BORDER TO BE STABILIZED. AND IN ORDER TO REPLACE IT, TWO LANDS MUST BECOME ONE."

Yukari swished her hand. "Enough of this nonsense! 'Stabilize?' 'Two lands into one?' What is it that you seek to accomplish with this mass disruption you foretell?!"

Necrozma looked at her, right in the eyes, and spoke more softly. "I AM DOING WHAT I MUST TO PROTECT THIS LAND… MOM."

The silence was so thick you could hear a pin drop.

"...hrm…?" Yukari mumbled. She was confused, but a part of her also began to soften up.

"ONE THOUSAND YEARS AGO, AFTER THE LUNAR WAR. I SURVIVED. BUT I WAS WITHOUT POWER FOR MANY CENTRURIES, AND WHEN I CAME BACK I WAS NOT MYSELF. THAT IS WHY I ASSUMED THE PERSONA OF RUMIA, AND KEPT WATCH OF THIS PLACE UNTIL THE TIME WAS RIGHT. I WANTED TO ACT BY THE EXAMPLE YOU SET… MOM. I WANTED TO -"

Necrozma's speech was inturupted by a fireball which flew through the crowd, causing people to scatter and striking Necrozma directly, knocking it back several meters. When people turned around to see the source, it was Meiling, her dress and hair whipping lightly in the wind.

And she was pissed.

She began to walk forward in an intimidating manner that was unlike her. As she strutted by, the other fighters just shuffled to one side to let her through, even her own mistress, Remilia. She stopped just short of the sages just as Necrozma recovered from the attack.

"So," she said coldly, "after a thousand years, you finally decide to show your face."

Necrozma took a moment to recognize her, before answering, "IT COULD NOT BE HELPED. THE SURGE OF POWER GOING THROUGH ME WHEN THE BLAST HIT CREATED WORMHOLES EVERYWHERE."

"Don't give me that bullshit," Meiling hissed. "Have you any idea what became of that world once I disappeared? I was the last hope that world had, before the weather titans destroyed everything. Now it's a barren, lifeless wasteland, and there's nothing I can possibly do to fix it." She gripped herself. "I spent those one-thousand godforsaken years in angish over never having completed my duty, all because some wormhole god couldn't control their power." She clenched her fist. "But now? The least I can do now is unleash my full, pent-up rage upon your crystalline ass. Oh yeah, and not only that, but you had the gall to possess another being before coming here and take its body as your own."

It was then that Satori picked up a faint telepathic message coming from Necrozma. Unlike Necrozma's booming, masculine voice, this one was softer and feminine.

"...help...me…" the voice choked up.

"She's telling the truth," Satori said to all.

Yukari was still silent, but Remilia stormed up demanding answers from both Meiling and Necrozma. "Wait a second," she asked, "so, you and Necrozma go back?"

"One could say that," Meiling said flatly.

Remilia looked back and forth between the gatekeeper and the god before them. "You… you can't be serious about fighting that thing! It took the Great Dragon, for heaven's sake! It'll grind you to paste! Your attacks will do nothing!" Remilia was panicking, trying to keep her servant from getting into a fight she could not win.

Meiling stood there for a moment, silent, before smirking.

"Well then." She floated up into the air. "_ Well then _. Guess Rumia's not the only one who's been keeping secrets." Everyone took a step back as the wind around Meiling picked up. Her dress and hair began whipping around like crazy, comically revealing her panties. But the laughs were short-lived: the dress then began to lengthen and spiral, concealing her legs and extending rapidly. Meanwhile, Meiling's body begun to contort into another shape, with strange markings and Delta symbols appearing all across, extending down her dress before terminating into a tail. Her hat transformed into two, stylized angular fins, and she flashed an expression of pure crazy, smiling bare-teethed like a maniac with wide, yellow eyes and black sclerea, all before shining brightly, causing everyone to avert their eyes once more.

When they looked back, Remilia could not believe what her lowly gatekeeper had transformed into. Sakuya, for her part, was amazed at how much power Meiling, her past guardian and current, bumbling friend, was holding back.

"...mother of…"

Before them was a green dragon, one with runic designs all over, covering its face. Then, all at once, it threw its arms out and let out a mighty, earth-shaking roar.

No longer was this Hong Meiling, gatekeeper and gardener of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. This was the lord of the sky, the balancer of Earth and Sea, the Delta Dragon guardian of Hoennese myth.

Rayquaza.

Right after roaring, Rayquaza instantly gathered, then flared up a massive amount of Ultra Radiation, before charging Necrozma with Dragon Rush, powerful enough to send Necrozma hurtling back quite a ways and causing its power to falter. Rayquaza then darted up into the sky, ready to rumble. And rumble Necrozma did, as it charged and fired a weaker version of the Prismatic Laser attack with which it had downed the Great Dragon, striking Raquaza directly. Rayquaza then retaliated by curling into a wheel and conjuring a supercharged Thunderbolt, which shocked Necrozma with millions of amps of angry, raging electrons. Not to be outdone, Necrozma slashed Rayquaza with its claw, to which Rayquaza retaliated with a whip of its mighty tail.

This back and forth fight took the warring duo all the way into the southern horizon, where each disappeared as a twinkle in the sky. On the ground, all the fighters present could do was stare, wondering just what on Earth was going on.

Yukari was a veritable statue, staring off to the south, the only sign of life being that she was breathing. Kasen, still with Dratini, attempted to communicate with her fellow sage.

"Yukari-san?" she asked, waving her hand in Yukari's face. Yukari just pushed it aside. "Yukari?"

Softly, Yukari whispered, "...Starlight?"

"Starlight?" Kasen wondered.

But there was no time for questions. Out of the blue, from the direction the two legendary Pokemon had gone, eight white lines in a wheel cut the sky. A buzzing noise, much like the one heard before the wormhole which sucked Reimu up appeared, built up and became louder and louder, until, finally, the lines collapsed into a colossal Ultra Wormhole, one far larger than any seen before it, so big it could swallow Gensokyo itself whole.

General panic and chaos ensued all over. In the village, residents either bolted into their homes and gathered their children, or ran around like mad, screaming animals on the streets. Animals ran from it as the wormhole began to enlarge and engulf Gensokyo. Around the mansion, there was pandemonium as otherwise powerful beings and youkai screamed and flailed their arms like little girls. Sanae, convinced that this was the end and without any time to create any sort of miracle, offered impromtu absolutions to any takers present. Kasen ducked aside with Dratini, hoping to keep her new friend safe from any harm. Similarly, Buzzwole instantly grabbed Yuuka and flew off to a safe place, since Yuuka's home close to where the wormhole formed would have since been overtaken. Remilia's charisma shattered into a million, tiny, whimpering pieces as Sakuya tried desperately to keep her mistress calm and safe.

Only Yukari, still staring stone-faced forward and her dress whipping violently as the wormhole approached, stood her ground.

"...but...why…?" she said softly, with a tear, as the wormhole consumed the mansion, taking her with it.


	41. Reunion

Marisa woke up choking on a snore. Her head was foggy, coming off of a dream where she, Alice and Patchy were around a pot throwing various ingredients in to make a potion to turn Remilia into a giantess (dreams were weird, she thought). She looked around, regaining her bearings and realizing she was in a cushy bed, with Sunshine sandwiched between her and Alice. It took a couple moments for her to remember her situation: she was back at her home in Alola. For some reason, despite that, it still felt extremely odd, given that Gensokyo had been her home for most of her life.

She rolled over and looked at the clock. It was 5:30 in the morning. She decided there wasn't much point in trying to get back to sleep since they would all be waking up soon anyway. So, she silently got up, got out, and went to the kitchen to get an early start on breakfast. Along the way, she was treated to the amusing sight of Reimu laying on the couch, her arm hanging off and one foot propped up on the arm while the other bent up against it and her face spewing a snot bubble.

Finding her way to the kitchen, Marisa felt she wasn't quite ready to face the newfangled kitchen gadgets she had gone without since she was four, when she was too young to use them anyway. So she raided the pantry, looking for stuff to make something simple with. Fumbling around, she took out a bag of sliced bread and a couple jars and decided to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She eventually found the silverware drawer, took out a butter knife, and went to work making it. She was just about to bite into it, when she heard rustling coming from the fridge.

"Hm?" she wondered. At first, she brushed it off as just the ice maker doing its thing, before hearing the rustling again. This time, it sounded like it was coming from inside the fridge itself. It sounded to her like there was something alive and large inside of it.

Setting the sandwich down and cautiously approaching the fridge, Marisa kept one hand on her Mini-Hakkero just in case, with the other reaching out to the door handle. The rustling grew in volume the closer she got, and her apprehension only increased to match it. Her hand, trembling slightly, grasped the handle on the fridge door. Closing her eyes and pointing her weapon at the door, she swiftly flung it open…

...revealing Sunny Milk, sitting on one of the shelves and halfway through a Micle Berry. It took a second for the fairy to turn her head and register the ordinary witch in front of her.

Marisa was confused. "...Sunny?"

"It wan't me!" Sunny blurted, dropping the berry in a panic. "I was just, um… I was just running away from some scary Shrine Maiden and hid in here and I found this berry on the way and-"

"What are you doing here?" Marisa asked her.

"I told you! I was running away from her and-"

"No, not that," Marisa said brushing off Sunny's desperate lie. "What I mean is, what are you doing here, not in Gensokyo?"

"...eh?" Sunny was puzzled.

"Right now, you're not in Gensokyo. How did you get here? Are the others with you?"

"Er… gosh, I don't know. But the others are around, I suppose!" Right after she said that, Luna popped her head out of the oven and Star's emerged from the dishwasher. Then the freezer opened and Clownpiece fell out of it.

"Well…" Marisa trailed off. "Err, would you mind telling me how you all got here?"

Sunny decided to start. "Well, last night, we were trying to come up with ideas on how to prank the villagers, the four of us."

"What else is new?" Marisa said rolling her eyes.

"We decided on this _awesome _plan to turn a tree invisible and plant it in the center of town so we could watch people run into it like idiots," Clownpiece continued. "We found a good tree and went to go get a snack, when all of a sudden, the color went away, then everything turned white, and when it went back to normal, there was a huge earthquake!"

This piqued Marisa's interest, since the fairies were obviously describing a major event. "Go on," she prompted rubbing her chin.

Luna continued, "alright, so, we go out, and we see this huge dragon lying in front of the mansion. Then, another dragon appeared outta nowhere and started fighting this scary-looking bat-like thing with huge claws."

Marisa's eyes widened. So Necrozma went back to Gensokyo after running away from here, she realized. And "huge dragon…" could that mean the Gensokyo Great Dragon? And… was it defeated by Necrozma? And who or what was this other dragon they spoke of?

"They went zooming off into the distance," Star described with hand gestures, "and after a few moments, BOOM! This gigantic wormhole opens up! We all got scared and hid under the shrine, but it caught up to us and ate everything!"

"Err…." Marisa was growing very uneasy. She didn't like where this was going at all. A massive Ultra Wormhole opened up and began sucking everything in….?

Sunny continued off of Star. "After that, we woke up in the middle of a field covered in branches and it was the middle of the night. We looked around, and everything seemed alright, like nothing happened. So we talked, and decided it was nothing after all, and went back to hatching our prank."

"That's not exactly nothing…." Marisa said. "You basically just described-"

"So we go back to where our tree was so we could move it, but instead of the tree, we saw this big, huge ugly building covered in lights and a lotta water beyond it. Like, when did the Misty Lake get so huge?"

Marisa's face immediately went pale.

"Umm… and… where is this 'ugly building' exactly?"

Sunny answered, "well, I guess we're in it?"

Almost instantly, Marisa bolted out the kichen door. "Hold that thought, guys!"

"Where ya goin'?" Luna asked Marisa.

"I gotta get the others up and tell them this!"

* * *

Once the sun was up, Reimu, Marisa, Alice, Sunshine, Lillie, Hau, Gladion and the fairies all stood out on the pavilion. The ocean breeze blew Reimu's hair gently as she gazed onward.

"So, this place is supposed to be out in the middle of the ocean away from all other land, right?"

Lillie answered awkwardly, "er, yes."

"Alright." Reimu turned back away from them.

"...then can someone please tell me why I'm staring at Youkai Mountain?"

It was true: no longer was Aether Paradise an artificial island out in the middle of the sea. Instead, it was parked on the shore of an island which wasn't there when they went to bed last night. Not only did it look like none of the others, but it had Youkai Mountain as its most prominent natural landmark. There was just no mistaking it.

Gladion came up to Reimu and said to her, "I think your incident just got a little bit weirder."

"Damn right," Reimu said bluntly. She lifted her sunglasses, revealing her angry eyes. "But a 'little bit' doesn't even begin to describe it. Somehow, Necrozma managed to tear Gensokyo away from that realm and then dropped it here in the middle of Alola." She took a step forward. "All this time, I was trying to find a way to get home. I didn't think home would come to me instead." Her face twitched as a whole mess of conflicting emotions of joy, rage, sorrow and "WTF?" converged inside her head and threatened to break her cognition of reality. And she wasn't alone: Marisa and Alice both were similarly stuck on how to react, while Hau, Lillie and Gladion tried in vain to process what they were seeing in front of them.

"So…" Hau asked Reimu. "That… is your home?"

"Yes," Reimu huffed.

"...totally crazy," Hau replied.

They looked at the new island for a few more minutes, before Lillie cut the silence. "So… what happens now?"

Reimu turned around to face the group and flipped her gohei out. "Now? We need to be on that island finding out just what the hell happened last night. I thought the incident was strange before, but it's now officially _beyond _out of control. If Necrozma moved Gensokyo all the way here, then everything we thought we knew about the incident up to this point now means precisely dick. The stakes just got a whole lot higher. And we don't have time on our side. That means we should just toss the whole Island Challenge to the wayside for now and focus on resolving this incident once and for all, because, dare I say it, this is the final act."

Both Hau and Lillie thought back to all the stories Reimu had previously told them about where she came from. Back then, they were just amazing stories. Now, they realized they were going to have to _face _all of those crazy goddesses and whatnot. It was a prospect neither had counted on ever having to confront themselves, and yet now they were.

"Now," Reimu said turning around to face them all. "There are a few things I need to lay down before we leave this place. Rule #1, do not leave my sight. I know this land like the back of my hand. You don't. Gensokyo is full of bloodthirsty monsters who can and will try to kill you. So don't leave my side, ever. Rule #2: keep your strongest Pokemon ready at all times. They can be used to fight anything that threatens you. And lastly, don't blindly trust anyone. Many youkai here appear human at first, and won't show their true colors until it's too late. Always question what you see until good intentions are confirmed, and stay vigilant even then." She paused for a moment, looked at them all, then said, "now, are you all ready?"

Lillie nodded. "I am."

"I am too," Gladion said.

Hau took a moment to answer, then clenched his fist and shot a rare determined look. "Anything for my friends."

Reimu smiled, then looked at Marisa. "And you?"

Marisa smirked and slung her broom over her shoulder. "Who the hell do ya' think I am?"

Walking down the steps which conveniently appeared near the docking area down to the shore, Reimu took a moment to gather her bearings, and guessed they were somewhere between the Human Village and the Misty Lake in the area's western part. Looking around, she was able to confirm this, although now the Human Village appeared to be set on a bay which the mansion was also on, and that this bay was, in fact, the Misty Lake. She felt the safest bet would be to lead them to the village first, since it would be the safest place for them. Checking the Rider Pager, she saw that while most of them didn't work out here (since it was still considered an ocean area), all the aquatic rides plus Charizard worked, so that was an out if they needed it. Cell service also worked here because of Aether Paradise being nearby, but they still expected it to be spotty in places so they remained vigilant.

It wasn't long before the group bore witness to a Braviary attacking a group of fairies; apparently, it didn't take long for certain Pokemon to start colonizing the place, making Reimu wonder how the natives and villagers would react to them. Stranger than that, though, was a Corvoknight perched atop part of the stone wall surrounding the mansion, since Corvoknights weren't known to inhabit Alola. Reimu reckoned that Necrozma was able to do this, since it could apparently move an island to another realm with its power. For the most part, the scene was a quiet one, perhaps because people were hunkering down given what happened. Understandable, she thought. Didn't stop her from being on-guard.

One other thing she did notice, however, was that her powers hadn't returned. Whether this was because of the effect the transportation had on Gensokyo and the shrine, the shrine being separated from its worshipers, the shrine was destroyed (again), or worse, she didn't know. She could probably find the answer when she returned there later on. For now, she had her team of Pokemon, which she figured most in Gensokyo wouldn't know how to combat so she could lean on that for now. It also made her jealous of Marisa, who was still riding her broom like normal and whose Mini-Hakkero still worked. This was probably the first time Reimu was jealous of Marisa for anything.

It was after about fifteen minutes of walking that Reimu heard a group of voices further down the path they were on.

"Hold on, let me go check," she told the others. She walked down a bit to catch sight of whoever it was that was talking. Once she saw, though, she couldn't help but stop and be silent.

"Reimu?" Marisa asked rushing up with the others. "Reimu, what's going on? Who is i-"

And then they saw them.

"What are we going to do now?" Okina asked in a highly frustrated tone.

"This incident has taken a grave turn," Yukari said. "Gensokyo itself has been torn from where it was, and dropped in a location in another realm we do not know. It's only through a miracle that the Youkai haven't disappeared yet, but I don't know how much longer that will last."

Kasen was with them, still being followed by Dratini who was acting like a dog. "Furthermore, we don't know where the Great Dragon is. All I know is that I feel its presence somewhere here. But besides that, the Hakurei Border did not follow us here to… wherever it is that we are. Where are we, even?"

"Alola!"

The sages turned to look at Hau, who had just greeted them.

"I beg your pardon?" Yukari asked politely.

"Hello!" Hau said again.

Yukari looked at Hau, then at the group behind him, and saw that Marisa and Alice were in this group. There, she noticed Reimu, who was dressed in a red tank-top, white shorts, white tennis shoes, had a Poke Ball visor and was still wearing her hair brown with curls and her eyes were obscured by a pair of sunglasses. The only real tell that it was Reimu was the telltale gohei sticking out of her bag.

Yukari came forward to them. "I'm sorry," she asked Reimu. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

Reimu peeked over her sunglasses and replied, "I'm Reimu Hakurei."

Yukari flipped her fan over her mouth. "But surely, there could be several Reimu Hakureis out there. MY Reimu has long, black hair and would never wear anything too short to cover her bloomers." Her voice had a deceptively playful tone.

"It's a little hot here for bloomers," Reimu said. "And brown, curly hair is stylish here. But besides that, I'm the same Reimu you've always known, Yukari Yakumo."

Yukari held her hand to her mouth. "How dare you address me so improperly! Have you forgotten your honorifics so quickly? Besides, there could be several Yukari Yakumos across the world!"

"From what I've seen, people don't do honorifics here. And only you would wear that old dress everywhere no matter the-"

Before Reimu knew it, Yukari was glomping her, laughing and crying hysterically.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" she laughed. "I can't believe it! I can't believe I finally found you, safe and sound!"

"Urkh," Reimu grunted. "Choking, not breathing!"

Yukari kept hugging for a good minute before finally letting go. "You didn't seriously think I doubted who you were, did you?" she asked with a smile. "I can recognize the Hakurei shrine maiden's aura from miles away." She held her fan up and giggled. "Although, you do look quite a bit different. It's almost like you're not Reimu at all!"

Reimu held her arm up. "I'm still wearing something exposing my armpits, right?" The two of them plus Marisa got a good laugh out of that one.

Hau looked over at Kasen, and saw the Dratini behind her. "Looks like you got a friend there, miss… umm…"

"Miss Kasen Ibaraki," Kasen said. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Thanks. I'm Hau. And this is Lillie and Gladion," Hau said pointing at them. Lillie was caught off-guard, but soon said "hi" shyly.

"Oh, don't be like that!" Marisa joked. "They won't bite ya, not unless you get between them and their granny panties!"

Yukari felt slighted by that one, but cleared her throat and asked, "ah, do you know them?"

"These are my siblings!" Marisa grinned. "This place is where I'm from!"

Yukari was…. A little stunned. "Ah… I see!" She looked around, then suggested, "why don't we take this conversation to my house? We'll likely be a while, I presume."

* * *

When it was still within the Hakurei Border, Miyohiga was hidden away deep within the wilderness by Yukari's magic, and not even other extremely powerful figures or the other two sages knew how to get there. Not that their places were easy to reach either, since Kasen's required a very specific path be followed or you would get turned around, and Okina just lived in an alternate dimension altogether. But the transformation had turned the place into a quaint villa perched atop a rock bluff overlooking the sea, with Melemele, Akala, and Ula'Ula Islands all visible in the distance, reachable via a rough trail from the beach.

Inside, the group had gathered around a table in front of a fireplace, and Ran was going around pouring everyone tea and handing out biscuits. Gladion looked around at the scene, and the two dancers behind Okina.

"I wasn't going to comment on it," he said, "but those two are rather odd."

"They are my personal dancers," Okina said primly. "They act as projections of my power."

"That's right!"

"That's right!"

Gladion looked around more, especially at the nine-tailed kitsune that just poured him tea, and said, "you know, this whole entire place makes me feel like I fell down a big-time rabbit hole. My twin sister is even friends with someone named Alice." He looked at Marisa. "No wonder you wear that dress, this place has really gotten to you."

"We have a saying," Marisa said. "It's that you can't let yourself be held back by common sense, 'cause no one here uses it."

"I can tell."

Once the tea was served and everyone was settled in, Reimu gave a brief rundown to the sages about her side of the story following her getting sucked through the wormhole.

"I'll keep it to the important stuff," she promised.

"No worries, take as much time as you need," Yukari said lacing her fingers together.

Reimu cleared her throat, then started, "so after I got sucked through the wormhole, I got spat out onto a bridge where this dust-cloud thing was, then the bridge collapsed. Luckily, I was saved when one of the four Island Guardians, Tapu Koko, swooped in and dropped me on the side of the cliff, and left me this." She flashed her Z-Ring. "Lillie here saw the whole thing, and led me back into town. There, I met these two professors, who let me stay at their place for a bit. It was there that I learned about this place, the Pokemon that live here, and how people here in these islands lived. Hau's grandfather heard my predicament, and how I was trying to get home, and suggested I do their Island Challenge in order to see all the islands and hopefully get some clues on how to get back. Since then, we three have overcome all sorts of trials, not just the ones in the Challenge, but we've also gone high-speed racing, skiing, took down energy birds which were causing the volcano on one island to erupt and blanketing another in a storm, and along the way we also took down a gang."

"Sounds like you've been busy," Alice commented. "By the way, did you still have your powers during this time?"

"No," Reimu answered. "No, I did not, and I still do not. But I probably wouldn't have used them even if I still did, because I've gotten so good with battling alongside my Pokemon friends that I can solve almost any problem with them." Rotom came out at this point and showed everyone holograms of her companions, all of whom struck Yukari as being very capable and strong, just like the person commanding them.

Yukari smiled. "One of my fears was that you wouldn't have your powers wherever you ended up, since your powers are so closely tied to the blessings from the shrine. But I'm glad you arrived here, if you can tame creatures to fight on your behalf."

Reimu sent out Sasha, who, upon seeing the strange new crowd, immediately posed, flexed his arms, beat his chest and roared.

"This is Sasha," Reimu said introducing him. "He was my first companion. He acts tough around strangers, but is soft around his mama," she joked. "But he's also very strong, and can take on opponents much larger than him

"Fufufu, he's very animated," Yukari said. Chen had also taken a liking to him, praising his physique as a fellow cat.

"We have strong partners, too," Lillie said. She, Hau and Gladion all sent out their respective Pokemon. Both Hedwig and Adele earned the approval of the sages, but were confused when Gladion seemingly sent out Satano from his Poke Ball.

"Hm?" some of them wondered.

"Oh, sorry," Gladion said, "he must be a little shy." He reached around and yanked on a black tail, prompting a yelp and causing "Satano" to drop the illusion.

"Aha, a fellow kitsune!" Ran came over and observed Zoroark, who was more than a little embarrassed.

"How interesting," Yukari noted. "The creatures here seem so much like youkai."

"That's what I said when I came here," Reimu said. "In fact, in some of their ancient legends, Pokemon were described and feared almost the same way, before humans learned to live with and control them. There are many legends in this world, and the people here fully embrace them even with their modern technology and society." Her smile then slowly turned into a frown. "Unfortunately, it seems one of these legends found its way to us."

"We already know the details," said a voice coming through the door. Reimu and co. immediately recognized Patchouli Knowledge, as well as Sakuya who assisted her here. But from Hau, Lillie and Gladion's perspective, this was a strange lady with purple hair wearing what looked like oversized pajamas, who was with an odd silver-haired maid with a short skirt showing off very conspicuous, very sharp throwing knives strapped to her thigh, and who also stared at them with icy intimidation.

Patchouli pulled up a seat near Reimu, and then promptly coughed. "The air in this location is awfully humid and stuffy," she said. "When I stepped out the door, I almost gagged on the smell of seawater, as well."

"Was Gensokyo not near an ocean originally?" Gladion asked.

"No," Sakuya said. "It's a mountainous area." Patchouli then coughed again, rather violently, before Gladion suddenly shoved a rescue inhaler in her mouth. After a few seconds, he let go, and after some heavy breathing, she instantly felt better.

"Thank you, young man," she bowed. "Tell me, what was that strange device you used just now?"

"An inhaler," Gladion told her. "I carry these for the heavy smokers in Team Skull but they're rated for asthma, which you clearly have. I recommend seeing a doctor after this if you can."

Sakuya then suddenly cut in, "oh, my apologies, where are our manners? This is Patchouli Knowledge, and I'm Sakuya Izayoi. She's the librarian and I'm the head maid at the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

Hau stared for a bit, then blurted, "oh yeah! Isn't that that mansion where a vampire lives? Reimu told us all about you guys!"

"I'm sure she did," Sakuya said, smiling and bowing. "You seem like a very sweet boy."

"You don't know the half of it," Lillie winked. Hau… wasn't too sure what to think, so he blushed slightly.

Patchouli cleared her throat. "That aside, I am here for business. Yukari informed us you were here within seconds of her seeing you."

"It's rare seein' ya outside the library, Patchy," Marisa smirked. "Must be really important for you to come all the way here."

"It is." Patchouli got the tome out of her satchel and lay it on the table. Almost immediately, Lillie and Gladion's eyes widened.

"...w-where did you get that?" Lillie stammered. "Isn't that-"

"A book from your realm regarding this legend, yes. It appeared in my library one day, replacing a necronomicon that was normally kept there."

This rang a bell for Reimu, who reached into her own bag and pulled out said necronomicon, which she had held onto ever since finding it in the Dimensional Research Lab.

"You wouldn't happen to mean this, would you?" she asked. "I found this at Professor Burnet's lab when we were touring it one day and I recognized it as yours."

Lillie pondered for a bit, then said, "you do, now that you mention it, Burnet did say something about a very important book going missing from the library there. These two books must have swapped places somehow."

"Indeed," Patchouli replied. "And I thank you for finding it and keeping it safe. It would have been hazardous for it to remain out in a civilian area. I can also return the book after I have Kosuzo translate it back; I had her translate it to Japanese for me."

_Kosuzu's abilities are improving _, Reimu thought.

Patchouli opened up the book and put the story stone onto it. "Regardless, this book tells of a legend related to Necrozma, as you said." Just like before, she let the battle scene play out, which struck a chord with Gladion.

"This is just like what we learned at school," Gladion remarked. "How the beasts and the Guardians cast out Necrozma."

"There is more," Patchouli continued. "At the end is a prophecy that foretells Necrozma's return after 500 years. I dated this book and found it to be almost exactly 500 years old. At first we wondered if this applied to us, since alternate realms might not follow our same passage of time, but clearly that is not the case. Just to confirm, how long has it been since this event happened?"

"Five-hundred years," Lillie replied. "The anniversary is actually coming up."

"That's what I figured," Patchouli sighed. "Anyway, it also mentioned another prophecy: that the Alolan Prince, the same one cast off by Necrozma, would return to face it, leading an army consisting of 'the Mane of Dusk, the Guardian of Order, the spectacled disciple, the witches in wings of black, and all eighteen colors.' I'm still trying to figure out what all this could point to."

Hau thought for a bit. "Eighteen colors… could that mean all eighteen types somehow?"

Patchouli's ears perked up. "I beg your pardon, young man?"

"The eighteen types. Around here, Pokemon and their attacks are split into them. Here in Alola, we also have these special crystals which let you do super-moves depending on the crystal, and there's one for each type." To demonstrate, he pulled out his collection of Z-Crystals, which he kept in a rough sack in his backpack. Reimu and Lillie also pulled out their collections, although theirs were kept in much neater boxes with spaces for each typed Z-Crystal, and additional spaces for species-specific ones as well.

"Neither of us have all of them yet," Reimu explained pointing out the empty spaces.

Patchouli was intrigued. "Do you mind if I examine one of them?"

"Go right ahead," Reimu offered. She lended Patchouli her Steelium-Z. Patchouli grasped it between her fingers while pulling out a small eyeglass to examine it.

"Impressive," she commented. "I can sense powerful energies emanating from this crystal. There's no mistaking it: the element of metal is strong within it."

"Well, it wouldn't be a Steelium-Z if it weren't," Gladion joked.

Patchouli studied it further, and was surprised by something. "Interesting. I also see that special radiation coursing through it."

"It's called 'Ultra Radiation,'" Gladion explained. "Our parents were scientists studying that sort of thing. It comes from Ultra Space, and according to legend Solgaleo and Lunala gave the Island Guardians the ability to channel it whenever they wished. The Guardians, in turn, use it to power up certain Pokemon and create these crystals. When you use a Z-Move, the radiation comes out and helps power the attack. It also gives Pokemon a tremendous amount of power, increasing their size and enhancing their capabilities. If the radiation is strong enough, the Pokemon becomes practically invincible to any form of damage that isn't also powered by Ultra Radiation. We fought Necrozma before you did, and we couldn't even scratch it until Reimu's Incineroar used a Z-Move to cancel out its aura."

Yukari rubbed her chin. "I see. So the reason we couldn't damage those two beasts and the reason why it struck down the Great Dragon so easily, but Meiling was still able to fight it, was because of that radiation."

Reimu's ears perked up. "What, what now?"

"A fake Reimu appeared alongside a purple dragon last night and fought us. I presume you've met her before?"

"Yes, on a couple occasions," Reimu responded. "I actually fought her yesterday before we fought Necrozma."

"I see." Yukari continued, "anyway, after a while, she summoned two titans, one red and one blue-"

"Kyogre and Groudon," Gladion cut in. "Those two are related to the legends of the Hoenn region. Groudon is known as the Continent Pokemon. It creates the land and brings sunshine to the land as well. Kyogre is the King of the Sea. It controls the sea and storms. The two are always in conflict and vie for dominance whenever they meet, their battles destroying everything in their path."

"Interesting," Yukari noted. "These titans were powered up by the 'Ultra Radiation,' and trounced all of us before they started fighting each other, putting Gensokyo into chaos. That was when the Great Dragon appeared and swiftly dispatched them, before challenging the fake Reimu itself."

"The Great Dragon?" Hau asked.

"The Gensokyo Great Dragon," Reimu explained. "It flows through time, space and all barriers. It breaths life and brings storm and shine wherever it goes. It is the highest deity in Gensokyo and is also worshipped by the Lunarians on the moon. The sages here asked for its help in creating the Hakuri Border, and it was last seen on the day said border went up. It only responds to incredibly dire incidents which threaten the existence of Gensokyo itself, especially if the Hakurei Shrine maiden is dead or otherwise cannot respond."

Gladion noted, "well, Kyogre and Groudon fighting would certainly count as an 'incredibly dire incident.' When those two last fought, it nearly destroyed Hoenn and had the potential to end all life on the planet as we know it."

Yukari then slumped. "But then… Necrozma appeared, and used a powerful laser powered by color to… fell the Great Dragon itself."

Reimu, Marisa and Alice fell silent.

"What," Reimu said bluntly.

Marisa's eyes widened. "You gotta be fuckin' kidding me."

"I do not kid, unfortunately," Yukari said solemnly. "And when the Great Dragon was defeated - it wasn't killed, the Great Dragon cannot be killed - we were completely at the monster's mercy." She decided to skip over the part where it called her "mom," since she felt it would take forever to explain. Instead, she continued, "but that's when something interesting happened. Meiling appeared, and seemed to know Necrozma personally, going on about how it wronged her a thousand years ago, and vowed for revenge. She then turned into another serpentine dragon, one with green skin and-"

"Rayquaza," Gladion cut in again.

Yukari chuckled. "Young man, where are your manners?"

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to explain. Anyway, Rayquaza is the Ruler of the Sky, and the mediator of Groudon and Kyogre. When the people of Hoenn prayed for its help, it came down and sealed the other two's power." He thought for a moment, and then came to a conclusion. "The Rayquaza you describe must come from a reality where it was prevented from stopping them because it was sucked through a wormhole created by Necrozma, thereby allowing Kyogre and Groudon to destroy the world. So of course it would be majorly angry with Necrozma and want revenge."

"Interesting," Sakuya noted. "If you don't mind me sharing something, Remilia once told me the story of how she and Meiling met. But before I start, some history. The Scarlets were an affluent French clan who had family connections to Vlad Tepes, and the Scarlet Devil Mansion is an 11th Century manor which has been renovated extensively over the years. Soon after Remilia's father passed, she went on a pilgrimage to China, where in a bamboo forest she heard a dragon's cry. When she went to go check, she didn't see a dragon, but an injured, orange-haired girl in a trap. She freed the girl, who then followed her around faithfully for saving her life. She called herself 'Hong Meiling,' and explained that she was a dragon, although she was shy around people and disguised herself as one most of the time. She showed Remilia her skills in martial arts, which impressed her enough that she offered her a job as the gatekeeper at the Mansion, since the previous gatekeeper had succumbed to plague. Eventually, the mansion fell into rumor as people stopped believing in vampires, which is why its in Gensokyo."

Lillie looked over to her. "And what about you?"

"Me? I was adopted by Remilia as an infant. I can stop time using this watch, and I fight intruders with knives. Even though Remilia took me in, it was Meiling who did most of the work raising me, and for that I am thankful. But to think Meiling turned out to actually be a dragon of another realm's myth…"

"And not only that, but Rumia was, in fact, Necrozma in disguise as well. Meaning this incident is at least a thousand years in the making," said Marisa.

There was a short silence before Kasen took a deep breath. "Gensokyo has seen many threats over its existence, many of which the Hakurei Shrine maidens helped solve. But Necrozma is easily the greatest menace it has ever faced. Not only did it manage to easily dispatch the Great Dragon, but it also transported Gensokyo itself all the way here into another land. And we don't know how to reverse it, or even confront it." All three sages slumped over on the table, depressed and unsure how to move forward now.

Then, Reimu sat up, and got something from her bag. "We have a chance."

"Hm?" Yukari wondered.

Reimu revealed Stardust to the group, which immediately caught the interest of the sages, Patchouli, and Sakuya.

"This is Stardust. I saved it from those energy birds I mentioned earlier. We think we can use it to help solve the incident."

Yukari stared at Stardust longingly, before Kasen asked her, "what is it?"

Yukari shook her head. "Oh, it's nothing. It's just a very interesting object."

"Indeed it is," Patchouli noted. "I can easily tell it holds tremendous power within it, that of both moon and sun." She lightly nudged it, then said, "it's very dense for its size, perhaps one metric ton or more. It's almost like a mini pulsar."

Lillie commented next, "I was protecting another one like it, which I named Nebby. Our mother wanted to experiment on it to try and open up an Ultra Wormhole, so she could be with father and Marisa again. When she actually did, however, Necrozma appeared instead, knocked her out, and took Nebby's power. That's how it became what it is."

Gladion stepped in and added, "the black parts on the being you saw are Necrozma. The bat-like creature is Nebby, which Lillie is describing, and Necrozma is using it as a puppet to increase its power. Somehow, Necrozma was able to cause Nebby to skip straight to evolving into Lunala, the Moone Pokemon."

"I think I know what that 'somehow' is," Okina said. "I sensed Chang'e's power within Necrozma. According to Seiran at the meeting last night, there were reports on the moon about a monster which swallowed Chang'e. No doubt it converted her into power which Necrozma could use."

Reimu then added, "I see. If that's the case, I wouldn't be surprised if Junko and Hecatia were involved. They're so bent on revenge against Chang'e, they'd be willing to sell out to something like Necrozma to get it." Reimu then changed the subject. "Regardless, there is something we need to do. One of these islands has a shine on it called the Altar of the Sunne. We need to bring Stardust there. Gladion tells me that that altar can cause Stardust to change form into something strong."

"Indeed," Gladion explained. "According to mom's research, the Altar of the Sunne and the Lake of the Moone are both associated with Solgaleo and Lunala, respectively. If we take it to the Altar of the Sunne, it will most likely become a Solgaleo. With that power, we can hopefully oppose Necrozma."

Alice then looked at Sunshine. "There's also one more thing I'd like to add. Sunshine here is very special. Last night, she showed an affinity to Stardust. After everything that happened, we think Sunshine herself is another Necrozma."

"We arrived at the same conclusion last night," Yukari said. "And if what you're all saying is right, we can combine these powers to face Necrozma and get Gensokyo back to normal."

Alice nodded. As much as she didn't want to put Sunshine in danger, she realized she was one of their keys to solving this incident, Stardust being the other.

Once that was settled, Yukari suggested, "now then, when should we do this? I recommend we set out at once. I don't know how long the Hakurei Border will remain stable without Gensokyo inside it."

Kasen raised her hand. "About that. Remember how Necrozma said something about 'replacing' Gensokyo? How the Barrier was losing power and is in danger of collapsing? That must mean it wants to fill the area inside the Barrier with something else, which for some reason it feels is necessary for the Barrier to keep existing. So the Barrier might night be in as much danger as we think. It's already proven it has the power to single-handedly keep it up. But even so, we don't know what its ultimate plans are, either there or with Gensokyo now that it has been moved here. So we should act on it as fast as we can."

Okina nodded. "I agree that fast action is needed. But Reimu is the Barrier maiden. I think we should let her have the final say on the matter. She'll be leading the charge no matter what, so we should listen to what she has to say."

All eyes turned to Reimu as she thought for a moment. Then, she announced, "I have a plan."

"What is it?" Yukari asked.

"Tomorrow, first thing. We will prepare ourselves and get this over with."

Yukari raised a brow. "Tomorrow? But don't you want to resolve this as soon as you can?"

"Yes I do," Reimu answered. "But I've been gone for weeks, and I'm sure other people want to know that I'm safe and sound. I also want to head back to the Shrine and see why my powers haven't returned; it would be good to have them back just in case. We also need time to prepare for what's ahead. Once we head for that island, the incident could go any way, and we have to be ready for anything and everything."

Yukari nodded for a second, and replied. "Fair enough. It's settled."

"Tomorrow at Aether Paradise, then," Gladion said. Everyone bowed, and the meeting was adjourned. Reimu went with the gang down to the town, while Patchouli and Sakuya started back toward the mansion.

As they did, Patchouli began to wonder some things to herself:

_"Mane of dusk… eighteen colors…" _

* * *

It didn't take long for Gensokyo's sudden appearance in the Pokemon world to make international headlines. Everywhere, front pages told of a massive wormhole dropping an island in the middle of Alola, the only direct witnesses being freighters and planes out in that area at the time. People on social media exploded with rumors and conspiracy theories, each one more crackpot than the last, with at least one claiming it was a secret government plot and other saying it was Team Galactic making a resurgence (not an outlandish assumption by any means). The main thing tempering mass panic was the fact that Pokemon world people had vastly higher tolerance for weird events than Earth people, especially given all the major incidents involving legendaries over the past few years.

On the new island itself, it was also abundantly clear to residents, both in the Human Village and outside of it, that things had majorly changed as a result of the events of last night. The first and most obvious sign to village residents was the fact that there was now an ocean cove in front of the town, and the second was the various Pokemon who had begun to colonize the island, which included those that Ultra Reimu had summoned the previous night, as well as sea-going species such as Corsola and Staryu washing up on its shores, or sea birds like Wingull and Pelipper being attracted to food on or near the island. Aside from Reimu and co., the first outsider humans to come to the island were International Police investigators, many of whom were still in the area investigating Team Skull and had been reassigned to cover this new and unexpected case. At first, it was assumed there would be a communication barrier, but the officials soon discovered that the locals could speak and understand their language, for reasons the locals could not believe or explain. Even then, however, their "native" language was virtually identical to Kantoese, removing any and all language difficulties. From here, they learned of the youkai living elsewhere on the island, and the investigators adjusted their protocols to account for the threat they posed. In addition to the Interpol agents, curious fishemen, employees at Aether Paradise and tourists visiting the facility also showed interest in seeing the island, although the authorities tried to cordon the area off to prevent unauthorized entry and exit. Various leaders in Gensokyo such as the sages offered their help to the Interpol to make sure things went as smoothly as possible.

Reimu spent most of the rest of her day at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, where her various friends showered her with their gratefulness that she was not only safe, but thriving in this strange land and actively helping to solve the incident at the same time.

"Man, it's sooooo weird," Suika said drunkenly. "I never thought we'd end up in the same boat as ya! Good to see ya again though!"

"Eh, nice to see you too," Reimu said, embarrassed.

Reisen commented, "I'm not gonna lie. Last night I thought for sure my number was up, and I've been through some pretty hardcore battlezones so that's saying something."

"I'm immortal and I thought I was gonna die for good," Mokou added, still not fully over having been turned into an ice cube. "Ya ever been frozen solid alive? Worst feeling ever. Now I know how those frogs Cirno freezes feel." And she wasn't the only one: Hatate's hair was frizzy from all the leftover static electricity from that lightning strike, and Byakuren could be seen off to one side wringing out her dress. But for the most part, everyone was in good spirits, glad to still be alive and well.

"I must say though," Remilia commented, "this is a most interesting location. Out on the oceanside, just where are we, exactly?"

Reimu knew it was going to be a long story, so she stuck to revealing details as they came up. "This place is called Alola, and it's an island chain in the middle of the ocean. It's not on our Earth, instead the locals call it the 'Pokemon World.' This place is a tropical paradise, and the other islands have everything from deserts to thick, jade jungles full of critters, waterfalls and hot springs."

Remilia sighed and slumped. "Tropical, eh?" It was true: vampires did not do well in the tropics, where the sun's rays struck the surface more harshly than they did further north, even if the days were shorter in summer compared to temperate areas. Add to that stifling heat and humidity, frequent rain storms and being surrounded by ocean on all sides, and it was hard to see how Remilia could catch a break. She sat there and stewed when light got in her eyes. "Gaaah," she grunted, "could someone shut the blinds? It's getting bright-"

Sakuya was petrified. "Um… milady?"

"What is it?" Remilia said crankily.

Sakuya hesitated, "that's… that's sunlight."

It took Remilia a moment to process this before she hissed like a cat and recoiled like a snake. "AAAAHH! SUNLIGHT! SUNLIGHT! GET IT OFF ME-"

That was when Reimu noticed something odd. "Hold it," she said raising an arm. "How come it didn't burn you?"

Reimu was right: the sun had been hitting Remilia's skin for several minutes to no effect, when it should have burnt her to a crisp instantly. Testing it, she moved her hand in and out of the rays, and all she felt was a little bit of heat.

"Eh? What's going on?" she asked curiously.

Reimu thought about it, then came to an answer. "I think I know. It has to do with that Wormhole you all came through. Marisa was talking about this last night with us. According to her, people who fall through Ultra Wormholes are called 'fallers.' That Ultra Radiation which surrounds and powers up Pokemon affects humans and, I guess, youkai differently, giving them strange new powers. For all of us, that means being fluent in the local language, and in your case it might have also taken away all your vampire weaknesses, such as sunlight, running water, salt, garlic and tangled knots."

Remilia was silent for a moment, then thought of some things. "Hey, Murasa, splash me with a water attack!" she called out.

Sakuya went wide-eyed. "Milady, what do you think you're-"

For her part, Murasa after a moment of confusion sprayed water on Remilia. Normally, running water should have been like acid, but all that happened was she got wet. Next, she requested someone tie a bunch of square knots in a string and present it to her. She stared at it for a long time and didn't get the urge to try and untie it. She then asked for a garlic bulb from the Aki sisters, and ate the whole thing at once to the general disgust of everyone else.

Remilia sat there for a few moments contemplating what this all meant.

"...mistress?" Sakuya asked.

Then, suddenly, Remilia got up, ran out of the dining hall and busted through the doors to the mansion and out onto the beach. The child-looking 500+ year-old vampire rushed down the white, sandy shore, the sun on her back and the cool ocean breeze blowing on her skin and her dress.

"HEEEELLLLL YEEEEEES!" she squealed. "I've been unbound from my shackles and can show the world my true power!"

Sakuya looked on from a distance as her charismatic mistress frolicked on the beach like a sweet child, before falling over bleeding from her nose. Barefoot, her dress blowing in the wind and sand in her toes, to say Remilia was having the time of her life was an understatement. Finally, after many centuries of having to hide in the shadow of night, she could be out in the world of the living, the blue sky and fluffy clouds above her, the sea to one side and the mansion to the other.

Slowing down, Remilia approached a curiosity she had no experience with: a tide pool. Moving closer, Remilia observed the pool, which was full of colorful shells, barnacles, and brilliantly shimmering, weathered basalt and olivine. Crouching down, she reached out her red-clawed hand to one of the rocks and…

"REANIE!"

"GAAAH!" Remilia recoiled as a Mareanie which had been relaxing in the tide pool reacted to being rudely awakened by the vampire and started attacking by spitting poisoned needles at her, which Remilia avoided.

"Feh," she grunted as she rubbed the sand off her dress. "The wildlife around here is ferocious!" Then, her eyes glinted red and she flashed a wicked smile. "It would seem as though you challenged the wrong opponent, little friend." She raised her hand and chanted, "now, taste the overwhelming might of my divine Spear of Gungnir!"

It didn't materialize.

"...eh?" She was confused. Why didn't it appear?! She tried a second time, but it failed to appear again. She tried some other spell cards, but they didn't work, and pretty soon she was reduced to flapping her arms and wings as she found she couldn't even fly, either. Meanwhile, the Mareanie sat there confused for a few seconds before resuming spitting poison needles at Remilia.

Running around trying to evade the needles, Remilia cried out, "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?! I CAN'T DO ANYTHING AGAINST A DAMN ANIMAL!"

It was then that Reimu jumped to the rescue, running out a back entrance and shouting out to her, "hey, Remi!"

Remilia turned around. "What is it?"

Reimu pulled out a Pokeball and shouted, "catch this!" She threw it at Remilia, who managed to catch it with both hands.

Remilia looked at the odd device and asked Reimu, "what am I supposed to do with this?!"

"Throw it at the Pokemon! Just trust me!"

After pausing for a second to think, Remilia did as she was told and threw the Pokeball at Mareanie. Remilia was startled when the ball hit the Mareanie, bounced off, then opened up and sucked the Mareanie up as energy before closing and falling to the ground. Remilia looked on as the ball twitched around for a bit, until… *click.*

Uncovering her face, she looked at the Pokeball, moved over to it cautiously, carefully picked it up, looked over and asked, "err… now what?"

Reimu smiled. "It's yours now. It will obey you completely, no matter what!"

Confused, Remilia sent out Mareanie again, who appeared in front of her and stared at her longingly. Remilia was hesitant to say anything, and before she could, it jumped up onto her face and gave her a hug with its many arms.

"Mph! Ghrf!" Remilia cried out muffled. An amused Reimu peeled Mareanie off of Remilia's face and led her back inside the mansion, where Sakuya bowed and a few other people stood off to one side.

"How are you, milady?" she asked Remilia.

"THIS SUCKS!" she shouted, taking off her hat and throwing it on the ground in a tantrum. "WHY CAN'T I USE MY POWERS?! I COULDN'T EVEN TAKE ON A DAMN STARFISH! GHHHHEEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHH!" She inadvertently summoned a Gunghir and, in a fit of rage, threw it down the hall where it pichuu-n'd a group of fairy maids.

"HEY!" Nitori shouted. "Watch where yer throwin' that thing!"

"I DON'T CARE, I'M SO PISSED RIGHT NOW!...huh?" Remilia soon realized what she just did, looked forward, then looked around. "Wait, did I just… do what I think I did?"

"It would seem so," Sakuya replied.

Remilia was confused. "Then… how come I could do it now if I couldn't outside?" Everyone thought about it for a second, before Patchouli spoke up.

"I think I know why," she said waving a finger. "It's because you were in the sunlight. True, you might not have vampire weaknesses anymore, but that doesn't protect you from the sun still draining your powers when you're exposed to it. If I'm not mistaken, Count Dracula himself was much the same way: in the daylight, his abilities were about the same as a human's, only regaining his powers in the shadows or the dark of night. In other words, that Ultra Radiation elevated your powers to be on par with Dracula's, which on top of your other abilities including being able to manipulate fate, could now arguably mean you outclass even him, making you the most powerful vampire to have ever existed."

Remilia froze, then slowly a grin spread across her face.

"Well then, if that's the case," she asserted, "then I should have no trouble being able to adapt to this world. I could even come to rule it if I really wanted to. That said," she said swinging an arm to one side, "I have no intention to simply brute-force my way into this new world. I shall show everyone what I'm capable of, even when my powers are no more than a human's. I shall play their game with their rules and still win."

Reimu cocked her head and said, "well, the thing that Mareanie grows up into can't hit very hard, but I've heard it can survive a point-blank shotgun blast, so it's a good start. You'll have to expand your collection if you want to compete in the big leagues."

"That should prove no problem for myself," Remilia asserted. "I have more than five-hundred years of experience under my belt, not just battling but also business and other dealings. I will crush this world within my fist and show them the true power of the Scarlet Devil!"

Just then, Remilia seemingly grew a couple inches and there was a slight bulge in her shirt.

"Hm?" she wondered, looking down.

Sakuya giggled. "Milady, I think you've started acting your age, therefore you're beginning to look your age."

Remilia, being who she was, just took it all in jest. "Ah, I suppose so," she said.

It was then that Reimu cut in with an interesting point: "wait, 'most powerful vampire to have existed.' What about your sister who's stronger than you?"

...oh, right, Flandre still existed, didn't she? And now the stakes of her getting loose were higher than ever, not only because they were now out in the open world but also because she was potentially powered up due to being a Faller the same as the rest of them.

Sakuya quickly amassed a number of anti-vampire weapons and announced, "I shall go check. I haven't detected any disturbances from down there so far today, but better safe than sorry." In the blink of an eye, she disappeared from view. Just after she left, Reimu got a text message from Lillie, saying they were done with what they were doing and to meet them at the Shrine.

"I'm sorry everyone, but I have to go now," Reimu said. "We can catch up more later."

"No worries," Remilia told her. "You are welcome back anytime."

"Thanks." Reimu exited the mansion, summoned a Tauros and made off to the Shrine, just in time to miss the chaos that would quickly unfold at the mansion. It was lucky Reimu had left a few Ultra Balls behind as a gift…

* * *

Elsewhere, Mohn was busy managing his store in spite of the chaos which had ensued the night before. Most of his customers that day expressed their gratefulness that everything was alright, although they also mentioned strange conditions outside, such as the town being on the ocean for some reason as well as strange creatures outside. Mohn hadn't left the store yet that day to see for himself, so he resigned he could do that when he closed the shop for lunch. He was about to do just that when he heard the bell on the door ring, indicating a customer had just come in.

He went out to greet them. "Welcome to the Kirisame Secondhand Shop, how can I help-"

It was Marisa. Mohn was very surprised, to say the least, since Marisa rarely if ever visited ever since she moved out to practice witchcraft.

"Marisa! It's been so long, I didn't expect you to be here! How's it going? What brings you here today?"

"We don't have much time, Dad. It's very important," a male voice called out. Just behind Marisa, Gladion, Hau, Lillie, Alice and Sunshine came in. Gladion walked toward Mohn, looking him in the eye the whole way.

"...apologies," Mohn said, a bit shocked. "And you are?"

"Don't you remember?" Gladion said. "It's me, Gladion."

_Gladion… _then, it all hit Mohn like a sack of bricks. Something he never expected would happen, did happen.

A big, fat, teary smile spread across the man's face.

"Gladion!" Mohn rushed forward and gave Gladion a big squeeze. "I can't believe it! I never thought I'd see my boy ever again!"

"Ch-choking, not breathing!" Gladion gasped.

Lillie looked awkwardly at Marisa. "Was he like this when you were little?"

"Yeah," Marisa said bluntly. "Big and friendly. Not a mean bone in his body." Hau, for his part, couldn't believe such a portly man was these three thin, fit siblings' father, but his personality also reminded him an awful lot of his grandpa, so he found himself glad to see him too.

Mohn released Gladion, stood back and said, "you've grown!"

Gladion scratched his head. "I mean, it's been fourteen years. I'm an adult now, and-"

"Oh Glady boooy~!" Suddenly, Selene came in the door to meet him.

"WHERE DID YOU SPAWN FROM?!" Gladion shouted in surprise.

Selene wagged her finger. "Now, is that any way to greet your girlfriend? I heard from some bird-lady you were here, so I came here to see you!"

A mortified Gladion tried in vain to hide his embarrassment as he looked around and saw Marisa, Hau and even Alice visibly cracking up.

"Ohohoho, I see," Mohn laughed. "My baby boy got himself a girlfriend! I hope you two get along okay!"

"I...err...yeah," Gladion awkwardly said.

Mohn then turned around to Lillie. "And you… are you…?"

"Your daughter who wasn't born yet when you disappeared?" Lillie responded. "That's me. My name is Lillie."

Mohn was amazed. "...wooow. I can't believe it, I never thought I'd see you be born, let alone get so big!"

"And strong, too!" Lillie spun a Pokeball on her finger. "I got strong with Hau here, and Reimu at my side too!" She looked to Hau and gave him a smile.

"Hi!" Hau said smiling and waving his hand.

"Well, he seems like a nice enough kid," Mohn remarked. "She treatin' you alright, sport?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Hau said. Lillie smiled again and rubbed his head, causing him to give an annoyed grunt.

Finally, Mohn looked back to Gladion. "And how about your mom? How is she doing?"

"That's what we're here to talk about," Gladion explained, "but we thought it might be better to show you if you don't mind.

Mohn was confused. "...show me? What do you mean?"

"We didn't come to you," Gladion said. "You came to us, along with the rest of this place. You're back in Alola now."

…

Mohn was stunned.

"...wha...you mean… really?"

"I'm sorry, but we really do not have much time," Gladion told him. "We can catch up some more later. It's imperative you come with us to come see."

"...um, alright!" And so Mohn followed them all out the shop, onto the streets of the village, and from there Aether Paradise was clearly visible on the horizon.

The group picked their way through the dirt and cobblestone streets of the village, making their way through the town gates where Interpol agents had taken the place of village guards watching the entrance. At one point, they passed a vacant space between two buildings when they saw something interesting: a Nurse Joy lugging a folding table and chair to the spot, setting them up, draping a Pokemon Center branded cloth over the table and placing a portable healing machine on top of it, before sitting at it dutifully.

"Um, excuse me, ma'am," Gladion asked, "but what are you doing?"

The nurse turned around and told him, "when I see a business opportunity, I seize it! This is the first Pokemon Center on this island!"

...there really was no length that Pokemon Centers wouldn't go to in order to extend their reach all over, not even rushing to set up on islands that weren't there last night and were crawling with youkai. They decided the might as well top off there (some of Hau's and Lillie's Pokemon got roughed up fending off both a roving troop of kamaitachi plus a Weavile that had decided to hang with them) before continuing on to Aether Paradise.

Mohn couldn't help but be amazed at how much the place had changed in his absence, how much the conservation area had been expanded, the numerous upgrades that all the various systems, boat docks, computer terminals and such had received, faces that had worked there for over a decade but whom he had never met, and of course the many, many renovations it had undergone. Looking around, he simply could not put into words how happy he was to finally be home again, which he never thought would happen.

"Amazing," he expressed tearfully. "Simply amazing. I can't believe it, I'm finally back here after so long!"

The group continued to lead Mohn to the medical wing where Lusamine was when they were approached by an employee carrying some medicine in one hand and a phone in the other. She looked up at them, told the person she was talking to to call back, and spoke to them. "Master Gladion, welcome back to Aether Paradise!"

"It's a pleasure," Gladion said, "but I… we need to see our mom immediately."

"Of course," she said, "she's right this way. Although, might I ask, who is in your party? I recognize Lillie, of course, but…"

"Oh, my apologies, this is my… girlfriend over here, this is Lillie's friend Hau, over here is my twin sister, her friend and her kid, and my dad-"

"...huh?" The employee was super confused. "A twin sister? And I thought you're father… you said he was dead! And… what's with the outfits?"

Gladion looked at Marisa and Alice's outfits; they were rather weird, weren't they? At least Alice had enough foresight not to have any dolls out around her in public, although he reckoned that wouldn't strike most people as odd since some people kept far more outlandish-looking Pokemon out as pets. He turned back around and said, "they… came straight here from a convention."

"Uh-huh, yeah, right, not buying it."

"He's telling the truth, though," said another voice. It was an older gentleman, one who worked in the facility's IT department but once worked in wormhole research under Mohn.

Mohn shook hands with the man. "Nice to see you again, Alvin."

"It's nice to see you back here, Mohn," Alvin said back. "When I heard about a wormhole dumping an island here next to Aether Paradise, I knew in my gut that the island had you and little Marisa on it."

"''Ey! I'm not little! I'm a big girl! A woman!" Marisa barked.

"Allegedly," Alice said rolling her eyes. Everyone laughed.

Alvin smiled and said, "I should have expected that. You were always a bit of a character when you were little, and I see you've become a tenacious young lady." He chuckled. "Although that is an odd sense of dress, I must admit."

Alice stepped in and told him, "we're witches. That island is a magical land and we're magic practitioners." She looked at Marisa, then looked back. "And yes, she's quite skilled for a normal human, but I've been at it for centuries. My specialty is making animate dolls."

Alvin rubbed his chin. "Magicians… several centuries… ah, so just like certain Hex Maniacs!" He clapped his hands. Alice wasn't sure what to think of the fact that old magicians weren't unknown in this world, never mind that they were called "Hex Maniacs." He looked at her and asked, "so, if your specialty is dolls, than, what's hers?"

Alice paused for a moment and responded, "...mushrooms and questionable experiments when she's serious, and mass destruction when she isn't."

Marisa spun her Mini-Hakkero on her finger as Alice facepalmed. "Damn right!" she boasted. "This thing has tons of power behind it! Ain't nothin' can stand up to it!"

Alice sighed. "Put that thing away before you hurt someone," she insisted.

Alvin chuckled a bit, then looked down at Sunshine. "And who might you be?" he asked.

Sunshine was a little shy, this whole experience still overwhelming her. "Um…" She shuffled her feet around a bit.

"This is Sunshine," Alice said. "She's actually our daughter, created through magic. She used to be one of my dolls, but then she gained a mind of her own, and then an incredible amount of power." Said power was hinted at when Sunshine's eye gleamed, briefly appearing as a red crystal matrix before turning back to normal. Then Ichigo came out, spun around Sunshine, and took a stance in front of her.

"Oh?" Alvin said in surprise. "And what is this? Another doll?"

"It once was," Alice replied, "but now it's actually a Pokemon."

Alvin took a closer look at Ichigo. "Interesting. I've never seen this species before. It must be a new one, created by this incident no doubt."

"It's called Wisdoll," Sunshine said. "...well, that's the name I came up with."

"Wisdoll, eh?" Alvin stepped back. "Well, she certainly has a lot of power built up in her, I can tell. I can't wait for this species to become more widespread, I wonder how it would do in the hands of other trainers. I also hope you become a fine trainer yourself, little lady. I can tell you have a strong bond with her."

Sunshine smiled. "Thanks."

After the conversation, Alvin led the group to Lusamine, and Mohn's heart immediately sunk when they were taken into the medical wing. There, Lusamine was in a bed being monitored by an on-site nurse, still unconscious but seemingly otherwise unhurt.

"...no, oh no!" He rushed over to her and examined her. "What happened?!" he exclaimed in a panic.

"It would take a while to tell the whole story," Gladion said, "but basically, she tried to open an Ultra Wormhole, only to get knocked out by Necrozma instead. It then absorbed the Cosmog she was using to open the wormhole to power itself up, and now it's on the loose." He looked down. "She… had really gone off her rocker in the years leading up to now. I suspect she got Nihilego toxins in her system at some point."

Mohn shook his head. "I would imagine. I missed her for the longest time, too. I had just recently come to terms with never seeing her again when this happened. I'm sure she felt the same way." He stood back up. "I remember my research on Nihilego. If those toxins got into her, I'm sure her grief and desires got supercharged. I can't imagine what you two must have gone through because of that."

Mohn looked at the nurse and asked, "how long until she's better?"

"Hard to say," the nurse replied. "Her condition is stable, but she's not responding to any attempts to bring her out of her coma. We don't know when she'll wake up. It could take months given the trauma inflicted on her."

Mohn was devastated upon hearing that, as was everyone else. He had finally come home after fourteen years, only to be told that his wife might not see him for a long time. Everyone, especially him, was in a severely downcast mood knowing that.

Then, Marisa got a brainwave.

"I think I know just the trick!" she exclaimed.

Mohn looked at her with lights in his eyes. "What is it? Magic potions?"

"Nah, not that," Marisa said. "I suck at medical stuff. But Eientei's here, and that means we can take her to Eirin to fix her right up!"

Gladion was curious. "Who's 'Eirin?'"

"Eirin Yagokoro," Alice said to him. "She's the best doctor in Gensokyo, and she can cure almost anything. She even created an elixir for eternal life, and has also made all sorts of miracle drugs and instant treatments. Something like this should be no problem for her to treat."

Mohn clapped his hands. "It's settled! Let's take her there at once!"

The gang loaded Lusamine onto the back of a Tauros and headed straight for Eientei. On the way, they passed Mokou, who offered to guide them through the Bamboo Forest in exchange for a Passho Berry until they made it to Eientei. At the gate, they were stopped by Seiran and Ringo, who worked there as guards.

"What business do you have here?" Seiran accosted.

"We've got a patient for you to see urgently," Glaidon said.

"Sorry, but lady Eirin isn't seeing any patients-"

Gladion plopped a large sack of money and a box of dango in front of them. After fixating on the money and the luscious green, pink and white orbs for several seconds, the two rabbits immediately let them inside, where they worked together to heft Lusamine into Eirin's office.

Eirin, seeing she had visitors, came out to greet them. "Good afternoon," she bowed. "I wasn't expecting to see patients today, but this is a surprise!" She got her lab coat on. "What is the issue?"

"Comatose, suspected neurotoxin poisoning," Gladion told her bluntly. "We'll pay you well to treat it."

Eirin whipped out a strange wand and waved it over Lusamine while examining her, then looked up and told Gladion, "I can get her back up and running in a week or so. Can I get your name?"

"Gladion Kirisame."

"...oh?" Eirin was surprised. "My apologies, but is there a possibility that you…"

"I'm Marisa's twin brother, and this is our sister Lillie. And she is our mom."

Eirin looked at Lusamine, then back at them, then back at Lusamine, then back at them. "I… see. Well, in that case, I certainly hope you're more responsible than your sister," she smiled with a tinge of snark. Marisa was not amused.

"Please," Mohn insisted, "you will take care of her, right?"

"We'll get to work on her straight away," Eirin promised. She then whistled, summoning a bunch of rabbit nurses to carry Lusamine into the back.

"Are… you sure she's a doctor and not a lunatic?" Gladion asked Marisa.

"Well, I mean, she _is _from the moon, so you could say she's a lunatic." Marisa laughed. "But I gotta tell ya, she's really good at what she does. She's been at it for thousands of years." As they were talking, Hau found himself looking around the strange place he found himself in, with numerous rabbits coming and going through the various halls. He sat outside, playing some more on his Switch, before looking up and seeing a strange girl with rabbit ears and a pink dress walk toward him. She stopped just before him, her alluring red eyes looking longingly at him while her puffy rabbit tail wagged like a little motor.

"Hey," she smiled, "can I show you something lucky?"

Hau started to answer before Marisa stepped in. "Don't bother with her," she told him, "she'll prolly knock you out and leave you in the middle of the road with a big 'ol lump on your head." She took Hau back inside Eirin's office. Out in the hallway, Tewi's ears dropped as she had sincerely wanted to give Hau something lucky - in this case, a Happiny she had found outside that morning.

"Ah well, maybe I can give it to master instead," she said to herself. She went to another room to keep the Happiny entertained while Eirin was occupied.

* * *

When they left, Lillie decided to text Reimu to ask her to show them the Shrine, as Reimu had promised earlier. Mohn stated his interest in going back to Aether Paradise afterward to settle some matters, and Marisa and Gladion had offered to go with him, while Selene flew back home and Alice and Sunshine went back home for the night. That meant it would just be Reimu, Lillie and Hau once again at the shrine.

Returning to Aether Paradise, Marisa took Gladion aside to ask him about some of the things he had brought up earlier regarding Lusamine's experiments.

"So basically, mom insisted on keeping up the research in secret after the funding was cut in order to bring me and dad back?"

"She wasn't that incessant at first," Gladion confided. "It wasn't until they started recording Ultra Beasts that her behavior changed. All those strange creatures that your friends came into contact with are Ultra Beasts known to our scientists." He pulled out captioned pictures revealing their names to her: Nihilego, Buzzwole, Pheramosa, Xurkitree, Celesteela, Kartana, Guzzlord, Stakataka, and Blacephalon. He also pointed out Poipole, but noted that Naganadel was entirely new and that the scientists were aware Poipole could evolve, although neither of them could guess how it did so.

"Alright, alright," Marisa mumbled studying the pictures. "And you were also sayin' something about the scientists creating something to deal with them?"

"You mean the Type: Nulls like what me and Lillie have? Yes, they did, but they went berserk, which is why they put them in cold storage," Gladion said. "Me and Lillie each freed one, and there's still one down there in the labs." Gladion's phone buzzed right then, and after seeing the message, he said to Marisa, "sorry, it sounds like the investigators are upstairs talking to dad, and want to talk to me as well since they have Faba up there in handcuffs. I'll probably be a while, so you're free to go back to your friend's house if you want, or you can stay a while." Gladion then went up the elevator to go see them, the same elevator which led down to the labs.

Marisa looked at the elevator in front of her. _One more, huh? _, she thought to herself, referring to the other Type: Null that was still down there.

A wicked smile soon drew itself across the kleptomaniac witch's face.

Following Reimu's directions from the village, Hau and Lillie eventually found their way to the bottom of the shrine steps, where Reimu waited for them.

"Wow," Lillie expressed looking up the long steps up to the distant torii. "This is just like the old shrines in Johto. So traditional, so mystical."

"Johto again, huh?" Reimu said with crossed arms. "I guess I really do need to visit that place eventually." She let her arms down. "I hope finding this place wasn't too hard."

"Nope," Hau said. "We just followed the path like you said. We found some Pokemon, as well as this weird girl with a purple umbrella with a long tongue who popped out of a bush at us. We just walked on by."

Reimu chuckled. "Oh, yes. Kogasa. She tries to surprise everyone she meets. It doesn't work most of the time. Although I should note that the umbrella is the actual person, and the girl is just an illusion she creates to carry herself around."

"Is that so?" Lillie said. "This place is really full of oddities. And you deal with them all the time?"

"It's my day job," Reimu replied. "And those days begin and end here, at the shrine."

Hau looked up. "Well, why don't we go check it out?"

Reimu smiled. "Come with me, then." She turned around and led the other two up the traditional stone steps of the shrine.

Arriving at the top, the grand old shrine emerged from the ground and the sandō.

leading up to it. No worse for wear from the transformation, the paper tassels still blew gently in the wind, and the kagura-den stood to one side. Most importantly, at least to Reimu, was the donation box, which was still intact.

"This," Reimu said to the two, "is my home. It has been the home of my family for a thousand years. It is - or, perhaps, was - the place where the Hakurei Border stood, and where me and the barrier maidens before me maintain it dutifully."

"Daaaaaaaaang," Hau expressed. "This is some place."

"It's very beautiful," said Lillie. Reimu was flattered by their comments; this was the first time in a long time that anyone had ever genuinely complimented her shrine, instead of calling it an "old decrepit shack" or just crashing at it. Instead, today it stood tall above the land, onlooking a grand ocean sunset in the distance with birds prancing around in the air, and Wailords breaching the surface of the water, the animals so large they could be seen even from here.

"Thank you," Reimu smiled. "I never get such kind comments on the shrine." She turned around. "Although…" She looked at a pair of stone statues on either side of the path to the shrine, statues that weren't originally there. Odder still, the left statue, tinted white, depicted Reshiram, and the right statue, tinted black, depicted Zekrom. Why these two statues depicting Unova's dragons were here she didn't quite understand, other than perhaps their yin-yang theme relating them to the shrine somehow.

Feeling the Reshiram statue, which was made of marble, Reimu muttered, "this is very strange…" Hau and Lillie stood silently behind her, wondering the same thing, why these two statues were here.

"Reimu."

The three jolted in place and looked around for the voice. "Who was that?" Reimu shouted.

"Reimu. It is I, the kami of the shrine."

Reimu, upon hearing those words, froze in place and stared at the shrine. "Th-th-the kami?! I...I've never even seen you… I don't even know your name! Why do you come to me now?!"

"I come to you now to speak of important matters. I see you have brought your friends as well."

Hau, also wide-eyed, called out, "...where are you?"

"I am there, in front of you."

"...in front of us, where?" Lillie asked.

"I am the statues."

Reimu was absolutely dumbstruck.

"...but...why?" She asked.

"Faith in me has been weak for quite some time, hence I was unable to maintain my form in this new world. This is the closest approximation I could muster, based on gods here with sufficient faith."

"I see," Reimu observed.

The kami continued, "now then. I know what you are thinking: why have your powers not returned with the shrine having now followed you here? The answer is simple: the Hakurei Border does not exist in this world. Since the power wielded by the Hakurei Shrine maiden is innately tied to the Border's energy and channeled through the Shrine, those powers cannot be granted here. I can still grant you your faith-based powers to aid you, and that includes your flight ability."

Reimu tapped her feet. "Then… why don't you?" she asked.

"Because you have proven you do not need them. I can feel it."

Reimu jumped back and she exclaimed, "wait, what?! 'Don't need them?' Don't be preposterous! Of course I need them! How can I possibly do my job as the Hakurei Shrine maiden without my powers?!"

"With your companions," said the kami. "Your bonds with them have become strong enough that they now act as extensions of your power."

Reimu realized what this meant. "You mean… all of my Pokemon?"

"That is correct. The way you impressed your fighting style onto them, direct them, care for them, and the way they care for you back. There is another aspect: you yourself have become famous in this world as a result of your exploits. Because of this, faith would not be received by me, but by you directly. You are the true bearer of faith in this land."

Reimu thought back to everything she had done so far in Alola: how she not only crushed the trials on three islands thus far, but won a futuristic high-speed race, became a wrestling star, a ski champ, and even freed a whole island from the icy grip cursed upon it by the Sphere Doomers. And she did all this without her powers.

"I see," she said. "Even without my powers, I have been able to accomplish things I never could before. But even so, a grave threat is upon us. The order of Gensokyo has been greatly disrupted. And this new and powerful threat wields untold amounts of power and potential for destruction."

"This is true," the kami responded. "The incident is fast approaching an apex. The Great Dragon has been defeated, and the time of judgement draws nearer. An appropriate answer for this threat requires solutions found only in this world. One such solution lies with you, one with the power of a star."

Reimu looked at Stardust's Pokeball. "You mean, Stardust?"

"You mentioned an island where an altar exists where this being can transmute into a powerful god. It is with the power of this god plus another that Necrozma can be opposed and stopped. This other I speak of is Sunshine, the one who wields light. It is your duty to lead these forces into battle against Necrozma and restore balance. When the time is right, I shall lend you my power once again.

Reimu closed her eyes, and looked down. After a moment, she clenched her fist. "I understand. I will finish this. I will strike down Necrozma, bring it to justice, and fulfill my duty as the Hakurei Shrine maiden."

Hau reached up to her shoulder. "That's our Reimu!" he smiled. Lillie smiled softly, too.

"This will be your greatest test yet. No Hakurei maiden before you has faced such a trial. But you will prevail. That I am sure of. Now, you and your friends, get some rest. You will need to be ready for what comes next." No one disagreed with that statement; it had been a long day for everyone, and some rest was well-deserved.

That night felt very strange for Reimu, since she was now back at the shrine, but the circumstances of how she had gotten there were not what she expected: the shrine had come to her, here in Alola, instead of her returning to where Gensokyo had originally been. She wasn't sure if this fully counted as coming home, but she was at least grateful to have some semblance of normalcy reinjected into her life after many weeks. And tonight, she could share this normalcy with her new friends, Lillie and Hau, showing them how to play mahjong, and then having Hau set up his Switch so they could play Mario Kart. Partway in, Clownpiece wandered in and joined them in playing Mario Kart; she especially liked how you could smash other player's cars with shells, bombs, lightning bolts and Bullet Bills. Reimu didn't have much in the way to make dinner with, but fortunately Lillie came prepared, having purchased some eel from Mystia earlier that day, and they had a cookout behind the shrine complete with Hau fixing some s'mores, and Raichu eating them all, forcing him to make more. At the end of the night, Clownpiece decided to go back to hiding under the shrine, and the others retired as well, Reimu pulling out some extra futons for them to sleep in. As she snuffed the lights, Reimu realized Marisa hadn't come over to visit as she often did, but given the family reunion she understood why Marisa wouldn't be in the mood. In any case, they all went to sleep, the bright moon and stars shining above and the haunting calls of wild Zoroarks filling the night air.


	42. The Sunne & Moone Flute

As the sun rose in the morning, its rays once again trickled down the mountainside, down to the outer walls of the shrine and making their way inside, where they licked the face of the groggy shrine maiden, who rolled over to try and avoid them. _It's still too early in the morning _, she thought as she tried to get a few more precious minutes of sleep, but to no avail. She got up, looked around, and saw Hau still snoozing away, tucked in a corner where the sun's rays couldn't get to his face, but Lillie was seemingly already up. It didn't take long after Reimu noticed this for the smell of tea and pancakes to waft into the room, giving Reimu an idea of what the girl was up to.

_I'm sure Hau wouldn't want to miss breakfast _, Reimu thought to herself smiling.

In the other room, a giant stack of pancakes with butter, some toast, bacon and chopped fruit adorned with a steaming pot of tea topped a table which Lillie had found and pulled out, and Lillie greeted Reimu as she pulled a half-asleep Hau into the room under her arm.

"Good morning," Lillie smiled.

Reimu took a big whiff of the air. "An actual breakfast. Not a lot of those are made here usually." She laughed. "It would seem you have desecrated the Hakurei Shrine, a crime punishable with infliction of severe pain."

"Try it," Lillie dared, smirking. Both girls giggled as Hau's eyes adjusted to the light and his head flopped about lazily.

Lillie crossed her arms. "Someone stay up past their bedtime?" she said half-scoldingly.

Hau looked up at her. "Urrrrg… it wasn't my fault, that fairy wanted to play Mario Kart some more, so we did until the Switch ran out of batteries."

Reimu rolled her eyes. "Yeah, she's quite the handful, isn't she? She'd burn the whole town down if you let her, that's just what Hell fae like her _do _." She shoved some tea down his throat, which was able to perk him up enough to be coherent, at least.

At the table, the three were faced with a very, very large stack of pancakes, more than they were sure they could finish in one sitting.

"Why'd you make so much food?" Reimu asked Lillie.

"I just wanted to make sure we were well-fed for today," she answered.

Reimu looked at the stack again. "Well, I get that, but I don't think even Hau would be able to finish all this."

"I can fix that," Hau boasted. He sent out Raichu to assist him in eating the stack.

Lillie giggled a little. "Ohoho, the old 'feed it to the dog' trick, eh?"

"'Eh?'" Reimu joked in response to Lillie's very casual speech.

Lillie blushed and smiled. "Oh, my bad."

"Nah, it's alright. I don't mind if you loosen up a little around me." She then looked to Hau. "But if you're going to let you Pokemon eat pancakes, you might as well share." She then sent out Sasha who, upon seeing the stack, grabbed a knife and fork, tied a napkin around his neck, and slammed the table with his fists growling with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

"Someone's hungry," Lillie remarked.

"Well, you know, he's gotta fuel those big, strong muscles of his," Reimu joked. "And what better way to do that than with a big stack of bacon and pancakes?" She turned to Hau. "You should probably get some pancakes on that plate of yours, before Sasha eats all of them."

"Not gonna let that happen," Hau boasted. He took three pancakes, drenched them in syrup, and began chowing down without seemingly so much as taking breaths in between bites.

* * *

After breakfast, the three got their gear together and set out. Just as they were stepping out the door, Reimu got a message from Gladion. It said to meet them down by the dock area at Aether Paradise, and to come at once. He also said the sages and some other people were all down there as well, and Yukari in particular wanted to speak to her.

"Looks like today won't be a slow one," Reimu remarked. "We should head down there as soon as possible."

The others shook their heads in agreement, and so Reimu got her Ride Pager out to summon a Charizard to take them down there, before the air was cut by a strange sound.

"**_Mo'o!_**"

The three looked around, trying to find what made the noise.

"What was that?!" Hau said wide-eyed.

A few moments passed without either of them seeing any figure that could have made the sound, before Reimu looked up and saw an object heading straight for them - perhaps appropriately, swooping down from the northwest, the same direction the initial Ultra Wormhole that started this incident appeared from. Unsure whether this was a Pokemon or a youkai or something else entirely, they all got Pokeballs out, ready to face this threat.

When the object reached the ground, however, they were perplexed by what they saw: it resembled what appeared to be a dragon's head, green in color and adorned with various Alolan tribal symbols and with a white, puffy tail protruding from the rear, floating in place a meter or two above the ground.

"...what is…" Hau wondered aloud.

The object then flipped up, with the "teeth" facing upward and the tail pointing down. It maintained this position for a moment before suddenly opening up down the middle like a clamshell, revealing a black figure with white hair, a beard and a moustache staring at them with cross arms with five-fingered hands.

…

Rotom came out at this time and shouted, "bzzrt! What is THAT? Is that a Tapu?"

"But it doesn't resemble any of the four," Lillie remarked.

The unknown Tapu took a fighting stance, revealing a red dot surrounded by white lines on its chest, and Reimu responded in kind. "Whatever it is, it's clearly challenging us to a fight." Sending out Sanae, Reimu commanded, "Sanae! Kite it and pelt it with Air Slashes!"

Sanae did just that, flying straight up and blasting wind at her target, while the mystery Tapu retaliated with Dragon Pulse, which barely missed, before charging Sanae and attempting to land physical blows.

Lillie studied it for a minute and came to a conclusion. "All Tapus are Fairy-type, and this one looks like a dragon and uses Dragon-type moves. Therefore, it must be Dragon/Fairy." She did some mental math, then said, "that means Ice, Poison, Steel and Fairy moves are effective." With this knowledge, she sent out her Gengar, newly named Hecatia, to go attack it. She thought that her Sludge Bomb could even out the fight, but the Tapu proved a formidable foe, looping, flipping and rolling through the air and landing precise hits with its attacks. Even though it was a brand-new Tapu, it was no rookie fighter, and could dodge and parry attacks sent its way while only occasionally being hit with glancing blows.

Hau sent out Hedwig to assist in the fight. Realizing he could pin it in place with Spirit Shackle, he told the girls his plan.

"I need to have Hedwig hit its shadow to trap it in place so we can hit it. Can you get it closer to the ground for me?" he asked.

"We can sure try," Reimu said, "but it might be hard because of how much it moves around." The Tapu was much too high up in the air for it to make a shadow which Spirit Shackle could pin, and its ranged attacks meant it could just attack any grounded Pokemon from well outside of arms reach.

"How can we get it close enough to the ground to trap it?" Reimu asked Lillie. "It stays high in the air and won't come to the ground, and it's way too skilled for us to beat with brute force."

Lillie thought for a moment, then had a brainstorm.

"What is it?" Reimu asked.

"Who says the shadow needs to be on the ground?" Lillie said.

Reimu was confused. "What do you mean?"

Lillie pointed at the various tall objects around the shrine, including the torii and the trees. "Would it be enough to lure it near a tall object to cast a shadow and pin it there?"

Reimu clapped her hands together. "That's it! That could totally work!" She turned to Sanae and ordered, "Sanae! Make it chase you around the torii!"

Sanae obeyed her master's order, and began flying in and around the torii to prompt the Tapu to pursue her there. When it didn't immediately do so, Reimu sent out Magnezone to bull-rush it with Flash Cannon, prompting it to chase after the easier target weaving around the torii. Hecatia spewed poison gas around the structure to cut off both Pokemon's escape. The Tapu pursued Sanae all around the torii, blasting Dragon Pulse and Nature's Madness trying to hit her, but she was equally as agile and dodged the blows with style and grace. As this was going on, Hedwig stood at the ready, waiting for the perfect moment to shoot an arrow at the Tapu's shadow to trap it. The morning sun caused it to cast long shadows off to one side, making the target large but thin. The first shot hit the torii just after the Tapu passed by and the second missed completely. Concentrating more, Hedwig focused on the Tapu's movements, hoping to lead her next shot so that it could hit its mark.

Finally, she fired the shot, and curved it a bit to compensate for the Tapu's movement. It successfully hit the shadow, mere milliseconds before it would have missed, causing the Tapu to snag on it and recoil back.

"Booyah!" Hau cheered pumping his fist. "It can't move anymore! Hit it with all you got!"

"Got it," Reimu nodded. With the Tapu where they wanted it, they ordered their Pokemon to use every super-effective attack they had at it, while dodging the attacks it sent out at them since while its movement was shackled it could still fight. And so Ice Beams, Moonblasts, Flash Cannons and Sludge Bombs were hurled at it, and it became obvious that the Tapu couldn't take many hits, hence why it was so evasive. A few hits, and it was down for the count, falling to the ground as the feather arrow dissolved.

Rotom cautiously floated up to the Tapu to get pictures of it. "Gotta fill up the databankzzz!" it claimed.

"Yeah, sure, do what you want," Reimu snarked. Once rotom was done, it went back to Reimu, and as it did, the mystery Tapu got back up and floated in front of the group with a stern look.

"What does it want?" Lillie wondered.

"I'm not sure, but we should be careful," said Reimu, keeping the others behind her.

The Tapu stared at them for several moments, before crossing its arms and nodding, respecting their teamwork and their win, before crying out once again, "**_Mo'o!_**" It flew up in the air toward the summit of Youkai Mountain, disappearing as a green dot.

The three looked in that direction for a few moments, still unsure what it was they had just fought.

"...what was that thing?" Hau wondered aloud.

"It looked like a Tapu…" Lillie answered, "but I'm not really sure…"

"That's exactly it," said a voice.

Reimu jolted around. "Who goes there?"

"Oh, don't act like you don't already know me," the voice teased, and the person it came from emerged from the bushes.

"Hello again, Reimu," Zinnia said. "I never thought I'd run into you in a place like this."

Reimu put her arms to her side. "Well, given my impression of you back at the racetrack and everything I've heard about you since then, I should have expected you would show up here. This place attracts all the weird types and misfits."

"I'll say," Zinnia marvelled. "You sure got a good little shrine here. Your ancestors have really been here for a thousand years?"

"You better believe it," Reimu said.

Zinnia walked over to the Reshiram statue and felt it with her hand. "And these statues, I didn't think you also worshipped Reshiram and Zekrom, too."

"Er, well, that's not exactly-"

"I'm only joking," Zinnia smiled. "I heard everything last night when I was walking through, then I came back here this morning to see how you were doing."

Reimu was a little weirded out. "...that's… a little creepy. But, thanks?"

Zinnia walked around to the Zekrom statue. "I see a lot of dragon motifs and artwork on this island. They must be really important to your culture if that's the case."

"Dragons are the highest beings in Gensokyo," Reimu explained. "Everything else bows down for them, especially the highest dragon of all. We call it the Gensokyo Great Dragon. It flows through time and space, truth and lie, and all barriers. Its roar shakes the earth and stirs up storms. It represents all life in the land, and no other gods can compare to it." She looked down, then said, "well, except for Necrozma, apparently, who if Yukari is correct struck it down with a powerful laser. Now no one knows where it is, we don't even know if it's alive or not."

Zinnia responded, "regardless, dragons hold a powerful place in your culture. Even if it was defeated by Necrozma, your Great Dragon sounds like it could get back up and be back at it if it wields that much power." She walked around, then said, "it sounds an awful lot like Rayquaza, who we worshipped much the same way."

Zinnia turned around to face the trio. "I mentioned before that I was the lorekeeper of the Draconids. The Draconids are a clan that goes back almost to time immemorial. While we worshipped and lived with Dragon Pokemon of all kinds, our myths centered around the Sky King, Rayquaza. Rayquaza is revered as a protector, because it moderates the conflict between Groudon and Kyogre, and is also known in the myths and legends of other regions. A thousand years ago, our prayers allowed it to gather enough power to achieve a most powerful form, Mega Rayquaza, and seal the two titans for good. This event is thought to be the first Mega-Evolution, and after that, Rayquaza spread large amounts of 'infinite energy,' giving other Pokemon to achieve mega forms when their bonds with humans become strong enough."

Zinnia paused, then looked downcast. "But then, the world changed. Cities modernized, and legends became exactly that: legends. The Draconids fell into hardship and scattered, our teachings lost in the dustbin of history. Now, I'm the last of our kind. And that downward spiral would have continued, had big incidents involving legendaries not have happened in recent times. The first such incident was when Kyogre and Groudon were released, prompting May to step in and capture them. Then, an asteroid containing Deoxys was found to be heading straight for Hoenn, I tested her and found her to be worthy of summoning Rayquaza to destroy it. Actually, when I prayed and summoned Rayquaza, I tried to Mega-Evolve it using all the keystones I collected, but Rayquaza itself lacked power. May just so happened to have a meteor on her which had enough power to Mega-Evolve it, and they took off into space to destroy the meteor and capture Deoxys. So, it's possible that the legends will live on. The Draconids might be finished, but our legacy will live on some other way."

The trio was silent as Zinnia finished her story.

"I feel that legends never truly go away," Reimu said. "They may take on some other form, but in the end they always find a way to sneak right back up on you."

"Absolutely," Zinnia smiled. "Ever since then, even more incidents have popped up, people have been more accepting of legends, and now we arrive at perhaps the biggest one - certainly the longest in the making. A brand new island in Alola, a light-devouring being on the loose. And with a new island, a new Tapu was born, one shaped by the legends of dragons that people here hold so dear."

Reimu rubbed her chin and mused, "a new Tapu was born…"

Lillie could hear the uncertainty in Reimu's voice. "What is it?"

"Call me crazy," Reimu said, "but during the fight, I felt that Tapu's aura. It seemed vaguely familiar somehow, like I should already know what it is. I can't quite put my finger on it, though. All I know is that it seemed far older than just having been belched out yesterday by this island coming into existence."

Zinnia chuckled.

"What is it?" Reimu asked.

"Do you remember what I said about the Draconid's legacy going on in another form? And how you said legends never go away, they always sneak back up on you?"

"I don't follow you," Reimu said.

"I think it's quite simple. One god takes a more appropriate form for the new situation it finds itself in, and not just the kami of this shrine."

Reimu's eyes widened. "You don't mean…"

"I absolutely do mean it," she smirked.

Reimu looked at the summit of Youkai Mountain again, then thought back to the fight mere minutes before.

"Reimu, what is it?" Lillie asked her.

"...ah!" Reimu had a realization, and smiled. "So, the Great Dragon lives on in another form. And we had the honor of being blessed by its presence without even knowing it. That sounds like something it would do." She paused, then looked to the others. "Well, we should probably head down there. I don't want to keep Yukari waiting for too long."

"Do you mind if I come with you?" Zinnia asked. "I think it would be interesting to see you resolve this incident."

Reimu laughed. "You're the former lorekeeper! It's not like I'M the expert! We're gonna need all the lore we can get to guide us!" So they hurried down the steps toward Aether Paradise.

* * *

When they arrived, there was already a large group waiting for them, not just Marisa and Gladion and the Sages, but also Alice, Sunshine and a few others. In a pleasant surprise, Professor Kukui had also managed to make it out, with Burnet and Elio joining him as well.

"Nice to see you again, cousin," the professor smiled.

"Don't mention it," Reimu said. "It's been a wild ride these past few days. Actually, this whole incident has been a roller coaster from the start, but now it's super-ultra-mega ridiculous."

"That's my line," Marisa joked.

Kukui looked around. "You have a point, though. Your home being dropped here on us? If I was writing a book, people would call it a ridiculous twist."

"Truth is stranger than fiction," Reimu shrugged.

"Ain't that the truth?" Zinnia joked. "It's like we live in a video game or something with all these incidents popping up."

Yukari chuckled. "It seems you have quite the crew with you."

"I have that effect, you should know that," Reimu told her. "Why do you think so many freeloaders end up at the shrine?"

"There is that," Yukari smiled. "You're very good at making friends even if you don't want them."

Reimu looked over to Gladion, who was standing on a boat moored at the dock, the same one he used to ferry her, Lillie and Hau to Aether Paradise to begin with.

"I'm ready to take off for Poni Island when you are," he shouted.

Reimu turned around to the crowd which had gathered. She took a deep breath. "Now then," she said, "this boat is heading for Poni Island. There, the Altar of the Sunne stands above everything else, and it is there we can turn Stardust into something to counter Necrozma. How things will unfold from there I cannot say, so I have to account for anything and everything. I can't account for anything and everything alone, so I'm going to need some help." She eyed the group. "Anyone wishing to come with me needs to be tough, tenacious, fearless and a little bit crazy. They need to be ready and willing to stand up to something which can punch out the Gensokyo Great Dragon and transport an entire island from one universe to another. And," she looked down, "they need to accept they might die doing so." She looked back up. "Now then, any takers?"

Lillie was the first person to step up. "Reimu, you have taught me so many things, allowed me to grow so strong and be myself." She swished her new, hatless ponytail behind her shoulder. "I will help you see this to the end."

Reimu smiled. "Of course you will."

Next, Hau jumped up. "I got to see so many things and grow as a trainer with you. I wanna make gramps proud and fight this thing with you." His boundless energy filled Reimu's heart with warmth.

Reimu turned her head to Marisa. "What about you?"

Marisa smirked. "We always solve incidents together, right? I follow ya around to become stronger. This ain't any different." She stepped forward. "I'm with ya to the bitter end."

After Marisa, Sunshine looked up at Alice. She looked like she wanted to say something, but then Diancie came out, punched her lightly, and winked.

Alice knelt down and told the girl, "from the day you were born, I always wanted to keep you safe from harm. But dark times are upon us, and you have a power which can end them. Will you go with Reimu and put an end to this?"

Sunshine's fist clenched, she looked up, and her eye glinted.

"Yes, mom," she said. "Yes I will. For justice." Alice had trouble keeping back the happy tears as she stepped down next to Marisa.

"I'm with you too," Elio said. "You never cease to impress me. I want to see everything you can do."

"Of course you do," Reimu slyly said.

"And I already offered my services," Zinnia remarked.

Reimu looked to Yukari, and asked her, "this enough of a crew for you?"

"You could say that," Yukari replied, "but as a sage, I have a stake in Gensokyo's fate as well." She stepped forward to the group. "And thus, I shall come with you."

Ran's eyes widened in surprise. "Yukari-sama, you can't be serious!"

"This is what I must do," Yukari told her. "What we must do."

Ran pouted. "Well, if you're going, then I shall accompany you!"

"Oh, yeah, like a kitsune isn't going to stick out like a sore thumb to conservative people on a remote island," Reimu joked.

Ran thought for a moment, then said, "I have the perfect solution!" She jumped up in the air, spun around, and in a flash of light came back down, having shifted shape into a seemingly ordinary Ninetales.

Not wanting to be outdone, Chen shouted, "I want to be just like Ran-sama!" So she spun around, became engulfed in light, and turned into an Espeon. Both came to Yukari's side and, after getting over the surprise, she smiled.

"You've trained them well," Kasen complimented. "Now you can say they're your Pokemon companions to anyone who asks."

"Indeed," Yukari smiled. "This is a very amusing situation to be in."

They decided this was enough of a group to head for the island, so all of them started to board. As they were boarding, though, Okina's voice called out.

"Hmm?" Reimu asked, only to turn around and see those two dancers Satano and Mai on the deck. Okina, still on the ground, said to them, "I shall stay here to tend to matters, but I will lend my dancers to you as an extension of my power."

Reimu lightly smiled. "Thanks."

Gladion turned his head back to them. "Everyone on? Life vests?"

"I think so," Reimu said. Satisfied by hearing those words, Gladion revved up the engine, and within moments the ship scooted out of the harbor, out into the open ocean toward Poni Island. On the shore, people waving towels gave their well wishes to Reimu and co., as they set off for what everyone knew would be the final confrontation.

Looking out the window, Reimu saw all the islands in the distance, the shimmering blue waters of the sea, the tropical sun above. Marisa couldn't help but notice she looked a bit downtrodden.

"What's up?" she asked Reimu.

Reimu slumped. "I know I need to solve this incident. But," she sighed, "I feel this magical place has grown on me. How wonderful it is, how much the people accept and support me… if solving it means never coming back here… and not only that, but with you home now, that means you won't follow me and everyone else back. It just won't be the same." Reimu started to cry a little as she stared.

Marisa got her shoulder. "I think it's gonna be alright."

Reimu looked at her. "You really think so?"

"Nothing is absolute," she said. "This incident was started by wormholes, and hey, if Sunshine or Stardust or whatever turns out to be able to make 'em, maybe I can come visit you and you come visit us."

Reimu smiled. "Yeah. You know, you're the best, stupidest friend I could ever ask for. But you also keep on the bright side of life. No matter how many roadblocks are placed in front of you, you don't let that stop you from busting through. You're the Star to my Temperance."

Marisa smirked. "Heh, glad I taught you those tarot cards." Both looked forward at the sea. "Though perhaps it's more appropriate to say you're the Fool, heading right toward the final Judgement."

Reimu thought about that, then said, "yeah. Maybe I am the Fool after all."

* * *

Some time later, Poni Island came up on the horizon.

"Poni Island," Gladion said over the speaker. "The most remote of the Alolan Islands, and the least populated. Full of nature, full of space, full of mystery. And in the center, the Altar of the Sunne, where history will be made. I hope you're all ready." Of course, everyone knew the answer to that question. They knew it before the engines fired up.

Slowly, the boat approached the port of Seafolk Village, the only sizable town on the island aside from the elite, member's only trainer resort on the far side. Only a few structures, including the ferry terminal, some government offices and some homes were on the shore; everything else was on a boat floating out on the village's extensive marina. There were no airports, so one had to fly in on a seaplane, a helicopter or on the back of a Charizard. It was a quiet, isolated, closer-to-nature lifestyle that the residents fully embraced, living off the sea and the land, fishing and picking berries. The island itself was also home to unique species of Pokemon rarely seen even on the other islands, and it was a popular hangout for strong trainers wishing to train, and hermits wishing to disconnect from society.

Pulling up to the dock, Reimu noticed one figure on the boardwalk seemingly awaiting them. Getting closer, she recognized it as Hapu, the girl she rode a Mudsdale up the Wela Volcano with. This seemed an odd place to run into her again, but then again maybe she lived here. The boat pulled up, and everyone disembarked.

Reimu looked at Gladion, who was still on the boat. "What about you?" she asked.

"I need to go back," he said to them. "I still have things to clean up at Aether Paradise. And," he looked down, "I need to reconnect with dad and make sure mom is okay."

Marisa smiled at him. "Well, do what ya gotta do. If you get time, though, there's definitely enough room at this party for you!"

Gladion smiled softly. "Yeah. I'll think about it." He looked at the rest of the group. "If you need to leave at any time, the money I gave you all should be able to cover a ferry ticket back to Hau'oli and then Aether Paradise. I also gave Reimu some extra Ride Pagers, if any of you feel confident enough to use them. And I know some of you don't need those, but flying on a broom or just floating in the air is going to make people stare at you, so please don't do that if you don't have to. Now then, I'll be off. I leave the rest to you."

"Alright," Reimu said.

As the boat turned around and began its return trip, the first thing that Reimu turned her attention to was Lillie's dress. More specifically, how the dancers had impressed (or rather, forced) their dress sense upon her, as she was wearing a periwinkle-colored dress similar to theirs, complete with a shoe hat.

"She will make a good servant for master!" Satano chirped. Meanwhile, Lillie was dying of embarrassment, especially knowing that she had accidentally left her new shirt and blue miniskirt on the boat and now had to wear this thing the whole time they were here.

"Ehehehe… how am I? I mean, how do I look?" she asked nervously.

"I think it suits you!" Hau smiled. Lillie then glared at him with red eyes and a sinister aura, causing him to freak out and hide behind Reimu.

"Help! Save me, Reimu!" he pleaded.

"I dunno," Reimu teased, "you brought this upon yourself, after all."

"Oh, don't be so mean to the boy," Yukari said to her.

"You're one to talk," Reimu grunted. She turned to Hapu. "Er, sorry about the awkward introduction."

"You brought quite the posse," Hapu commented.

"I needed all the help I could get, even if it wasn't exactly the most mentally sound. Although, I don't think any sane person would be taking on a mission such as this," she joked. Everyone else laughed, except for Lillie whose face was still beet-red. "Anyway, what are you doing here?" she asked, even though she felt she already knew the answer.

"I live here," Hapu answered. "I've been going on my own little 'Island Challenge' for some time and I just recently came back. When you met me that day you happened to catch me in the middle of it."

Reimu was curious. "What kind of 'Island Challenge?'"

"I just wanted to tour the islands, see all there was to see, and expand my horizons. You've been doing the same, just more 'officially.'"

"Well, I guess that's true," Reimu said looking at her Z-Ring, "the main reason I went on it was to figure out how to get home. But now the game has changed. That island that appeared a couple nights ago _is _my home, Gensokyo, dropped there by Necrozma. And it just so happens my friend Marisa is from here, as well as Mohn. So now my objective is to set everything right and bring Necrozma to justice."

Hapu looked at the crew assisting Reimu with this "justice," and couldn't help but fixate on Satano and Mai's strange costumes and mannerisms, or how they got Lillie to dress up like them. Also of interest was Yukari, who seemed like an aloof noble but who Hapu could tell was very powerful, both politically and physically. Marisa was sitting on a broom floating in midair, while Sunshine looked like a yellow-dressed Fairy Tale Girl. And then, of course, Zinnia just _was _. Only Reimu herself, Elio and Hau looked like normal trainers at all. And yet the combined power of this group could blow up continents. Hapu didn't necessarily know that, but she knew better than to judge a book by its cover.

"That said," Reimu added, "there is also still the Island Challenge. I'm sure at least Hau wants to make sure he finishes that. So, who's the Kahuna around here?"

Hapu looked at her and said, "Kahuna? We don't have one."

Reimu and Hau looked at her with blank eyes. "Wait, what?"

"We haven't had a Kahuna for years, not since my grandfather died. In fact, the only thing we have here is the Dragon trial, and trainers just need to beat that to check this island off, although there is a girl here trying to start her own trial." She looked around, then said, "but I'm trying to fix that, carry on my grandfather's legacy. Hopefully, Tapu Fini will grant me its blessing this time."

"'This time?'" asked Reimu.

"I wanted to become the Island Kahuna. In order to do that, you must receive the blessing of the Island Guardian. I went to Tapu Fini and attempted to get its blessing, but I was rejected. I realized this was due to my lack of experience going around the islands, so I went on a tour to see the world outside my home of Poni."

"I see, I see," Reimu noted.

"I felt I didn't have enough time to complete a normal Island Trial, given the circumstances. Hopefully, my tour and me associating with you will be enough to impress Tapu Fini. It's the most… antisocial of the four Island Guardians, and creates a mist around its ruins which disorients sailors and has caused many ships to crash into the jagged rocks surrounding much of the island. They say that anyone who can brave its mists can benefit from medicinal vapors it creates, but it also commands water and ice and can whip up tides, waves and rainstorms with little warning."

There was a silence for a moment, as everyone digested this information.

Reimu dug through her bag and presented the Moone Flute. "I found this at the Lake of the Moone. I'm told there's a Sunne Flute like it which we need to find in order to summon Solgaleo or Lunala at the Altar of the Sunne."

Hapu pointed her finger up. "Ah, the Sunne Flute. It's kept on an island near here called Exeggutor Island. According to legend, the flutes may be taken only by worthy individuals in times of need. Given that you could remove the Moone Flute without trouble, there's no doubt you can claim the Sunne Flute as well." She began walking in one direction. "I know a group that's well-known on this island for faring the seas and going on daring adventures."

Reimu looked around at all the boats that people seemingly lived in. "It seems as though people live and work in their boats."

"This place isn't called Seafolk Village for no reason," Hapu said. "The Seafolk were traditionally a nomadic tribe of Alolans who traversed the high seas, living off the fish and kelp which they caught and subsisted on, and settled at different spots from time to time. They most often settled on places around Poni Island due to its isolation from the rest of Alola's politics and affairs. Over time, this spot became a frequent enough settlement that they ultimately semi-permanently settled here, building the ferry terminal over there as well as this marina, which was a community effort that everyone came together to build with their own hands. To this day, most people who live here, myself included, are native Alolans. Outsiders are relatively rare, we don't get anywhere near the number of tourists the other islands get, and unlike them, we chose to preserve our way of life and resist the call of resort developers. This is the island you go to if you want to lose yourself in nature."

"Gensokyo is much the same way, but most people don't have a choice," Reimu said. "The entire point of Gensokyo is - or, well, was - to provide a place for legends to live once the outside world lost their fear or belief in them. Since the Hakurei Border was built before Japan modernized, it's more or less been in stasis for over a century, although modern technology does tumble in every so often. One example I often cite to newcomers is the plight of the yamabiko, a species of youkai attributed to causing echos, which lured people into the mountains where they would then trap and eat them. Once echoes receives a scientific explanation, about how sound waves bounce off of walls and such, they began to literally poof out of existence until Gensokyo was the last place they could safely live. When a science magazine detailing echoes fell through the Border one day, I was quickly asked to burn it before any villagers saw it. Aside from them, things like urban legends and extinct animals pop up from time to time, and there have been cases where species thought to be extinct disappear from Gensokyo when living specimens are found Outside."

At that moment, a strange rock-like fish surfaced in the water near them, burped, then sent back down into the depths.

"Funny a Relicanth appears just as you say that," Hapu joked. "They used to think Relicanths were extinct, until they found living ones swimming in the deep sea. It's like a living fossil Pokemon, since it's essentially unchanged even after 100 million years. Here in Alola, islanders used to believe that they were immortal sea spirits."

"Interesting," Reimu noted.

Hapu walked over to a door on the side of a wooden ship which resembled a Lapras. "As I was saying before, I know a group which has trolled the islands and has made quite the name for themselves in all the adventures and treasure hunts they go on. They can easily show you the way to the Sunne Flute, since they're considered the 'protectors' of Exeggutor Island."

"Cool," Reimu said. "Where is this group?"

"Right through this door," she smiled. "I'm sure they'd be honored to meet you in person." Everyone in the group envisioned a troop of legendary sailors who fought bravely against the stormy seas and fearsome Pokemon that lived out there, finding hidden caches of gold and other bounty that they could sell to fund their continued endeavors or display as trophies of their legacy.

But when the door was opened, that… wasn't exactly what they got.

Inside the house-ship was what looked like an unkempt club room, one which smelled faintly of month's-old energy drinks staining the carpet, where a group of what looked like teenagers or young adults sat around talking about things, one clacked away at a laptop hooked up to a massive server in the corner, a blonde boy was playing Foosball with a Meowth for some reason, and a boy with black, frizzy hair and glasses was idly tossing darts at a dartboard across the room, with three darts on the bullseye stacked on top of each other, and acid jazz was going on full blast.

"What the…" Hau said, surprised.

"What is this place?" Marisa wondered.

Hapu turned around. "This is the local fishing club, the Phantoms." She turned around to face them. "Sorry to barge in, everyone, but we have a special visitor with us today."

Everyone in the room turned their heads while the music died down, and when they saw Reimu, their eyes all widened and their jaws dropped. The girl with the laptop immediately shut it without saving her work and rushed over, followed closely by the rest of the gang.

"I can't believe it!" she squeed. "I can't believe Reimu came out all the way out here!" She whipped out a well-worn notebook and asked her, "can I get your autograph?"

Reimu wasn't sure what to think. "Uhh… sure." She took the notebook and signed her name in kanji before giving it back to the excited, orange-haired, bespectacled girl jumping up and down like a hyperactive child.

"Nyhehehehehehe," she chuckled ominously. "I finally did it! I got her autograph!" Then, the black-haired boy put his hand on her head, which seemed to calm her.

"Don't mind her," he assured. "She just gets really excited about nerd things."

Reimu pointed a finger out awkwardly and asked them, "I'm sorry, but who are all of you?"

The black-haired boy laughed a bit, before replying, "oh,apologies. My name is Ren. I'm the president of the fishing club. And this is Futaba, our resident tech geek." Futaba blushed at the thought of being labeled a "tech geek" in what she honestly felt to be Reimu's mythic presence. Meanwhile, the others stepped up to introduce themselves as well.

"Yo, I'm Ryuji," said the blonde boy.

"Ann," a girl with twintails smiled.

"My name is Yusuke," said another boy reaching his hand out to shake Reimu's.

"Makoto," said another girl.

"I'm Haru," a girl in a pink shirt smiled.

"And I'm Kasumi," said a red-haired girl in the back.

"Don't forget about me!" said a boyish voice.

Reimu looked around and asked, "who was that?"

"Down here!" said the voice again. Reimu looked down, and saw the Meowth at her feet staring up at her.

"A talking Meowth?" she asked.

"Hey, I'm not some common Alolan Meowth," he complained. "I am Morgana, and I'll have you know, I'm a human! I think!"

"Really now?" Reimu said cocking an eyebrow. "How can I tell you're really a human and not a nekomata or a kasha who can shift into the shape of one?" Just then, Yukari's "Espeon" shifted back into Chen, who proceeded to glomp up Morgana and hug him like a big, snuggly plush toy.

"What the eff?" Ryuji wondered. "Did that Espeon just turn into a-"

"Let go of me!" Morgana protested flailing against Chen's hug.

"Yukari-sama! I found a family member!"

Yukari smiled and giggled lightly. "Now, now, Chen, what did I tell you about hugging strangers in public?" The fishing club, plus Hapu, were at a loss about seeing a Pokemon shift into a catgirl hugging their talking Meowth, before she shifted back into an Espeon and leapt back to Yukari's side.

Morgana licked himself to regroom his fur before pouting, "don't be so rough with me!"

Makoto, who seemed to be the observant one, looked at Reimu's posse consisting of herself, Hau, Lillie, Elio, the two dancers, a witch and a girl in a yellow dress, and Yukari, who apparently had a shapeshifting Espeon and a Ninetales who could presumably do the same.

"You've brought quite an interesting group," she noted. "Also, what's with those strange dresses?" Her asking this question made Lillie seethe while the two dancers smiled and stared blankly, which was making Ryuji and Ann uncomfortable.

"Uh-huh.. Are they always like that?" Ann asked nervously.

Reimu looked at them, then said, "oh, them? Yeah, they're not really people so much as extensions of a goddess Yukari over here knows. Lillie is a real person, though. You can tell by how she looks like she's going to punch a hole in the wall fight now."

Lillie steamed for a few moments before taking a deep breath and shaking her arms. "Yes, that's right," she said. "They made me dress like this because… I don't know why they did."

"They do seem like the sort of individuals who would act without thinking," Yusuke noted. "Their monotonous tones of voice and puppet-like movements are a sign of that."

"They break into my house sometimes and dress me up like them too while I'm sleeping," Marisa said. "It's not just Lillie, it's anyone who catches Okina's fancy."

"Sounds like a predator to me," Kasumi said sternly. "What kind of laws are there in Gensokyo preventing that?"

Marisa then burst out in hysterical laughter so hard she was actually crying, before answering, "oh PLEASE, there's almost no such thing as common sense in Gensokyo, much less cops. If anything, me and Reimu over here are the law since we put out any incidents anyone tries. Tell me, what kinda laws do you have for a hell raven threatening to turn the surface into a burning hellscape? Or a doctor and a princess 'stealing' the full moon to avoid bein' caught by the Lunarians?"

"Funny you mention that," Ren added, "because a few years ago they had to pass a new law regarding using legendary Pokemon in tournaments because of how many trainers were catching and keeping them after incidents here. May, for instance, has to get written permission to use either Kyogre or Groudon in tournaments and grand festivals because of their effect on the local weather."

Yukari shuddered. "You mean, those horrifically powerful titans? Someone uses them in fighting tournaments? Those can destroy cities!"

"Well, fortunately, Pokeballs are also power limiters," Ren explained, "so a caught and trained legendary isn't nearly as powerful as they are when they are wild. So no time-turning for Dialga or mass killing for Yveltal unless their owner specifically lets them. Still, they're much stronger than ordinary Pokemon, so they have to be regulated." He cleared his throat and then said, "but we're not here to discuss legendaries. Or, well, I guess we are, I suppose. I don't know." Everyone chuckled.

"So you're a fishing club," Reimu asked. "What kind of stuff do you fish for?"  
"Well, fish, duh," Morgana said crossing his arms. "Nice, fatty fish that I can make into delicious fatty sushi! SUSHI!"

Futaba picked up Morgana and gave him noogies. "You know that's not all we _look _for, right?"

"NYAAAA!"

"We're treasure hunters, mostly," Ann explained. She then pointed to a pile in the corner of the room that looked like metal pogs. "These are Bottle Caps. No one knows where they come from, but people will do anything to collect them, and for some reason they can also make Pokemon stronger somehow."

"Basically, we can sell 'em to trainers and make loads of cash!" Ryuji said excitedly.

"I'm responsible for selling then online," Futaba noted. "I maintain our official site. Every time we make a sale, I just stick the item on a delivery Porygon, send it to that person's box, and they take the item and Porygon comes back ready to deliver the next one!"

Marisa was impressed. "Treasure hunters, eh? Well, I'm a treasure hunter myself. I have quite a collection!"

"Yeah, sure," Reimu said sarcastically. "_ Totally _not all stolen."

"Ehehehe…" Marisa chuckled sheepishly.

* * *

Once the group had settled down, the Phantoms secured the boat and made sure everyone had life jackets before Ren and Makoto went up to the helm, revved up the motor, turned the ship toward the sea and set out to Exeggutor Island. During the 90-minute voyage to the island, Hau managed to set up the Switch again so that everyone could play more Mario Kart. Unsurprisingly, Gutaba managed to crush everyone, at least until the cunning and analytic Yukari learned how to exploit all the advanced strategies and take the lead in a couple of races. After all, she was among the few Gensokyo residents who visited the Outside regularly, so modern technology wasn't completely unknown to her. Futaba accused her of cheating, which was a fair accusation given how Yukari used her boundary-manipulation to do things like shorten the course for her and lengthen it for everyone else, or increase the rate at which she got good items, but she did it in such a way that it wasn't obvious.

Finally, Makoto announced on the radio that they had reached Exeggutor Island, and to prepare to disembark. Docking at a safe harbor near the south end, they threw down the anchor, tied the boat to a rock spire, and stepped off onto the small island.

Looking around, Yukari noticed the very tall Exeggutor slowly moving about the island. "My," she noted, "these specimens have all grown quite vigorously."

"They say it's because of Alolan sunlight," Haru explained. "Exeggutor that evolve in other regions don't get as much sunlight so their growth is stunted. But here in the tropics, where they're native, the sun hits them more directly, so they can make more nutrients and grow taller. Some also say they benefit from Solgaleo's influence."

"Solgaleo…" Reimu murmured. "...so, the Sunne Flute is somewhere on this island?"

"Right this way," Ren announced. He led the troop up a trail which led up to a tall hill on the far side of the island. Along the way, they caught sight of some real, wild Alolan wildlife: Mantines jumping out of the sea and flying in the air to catch seabirds, Wailord breaching the surface off in the distance, a Scyther cutting down some grass in order to make a nest. Closer to where the Flute was, there was also an Alakazam meditating under the shade of a palm tree, facing a small pond with Wishiwashi swimming around.

Arriving at the top of the hill, they could see the Sunne Flute, resting in its pedestal, with a large stone pavilion with tribal carvings in it spread out in front of it.

"This," Ren said, "is the resting spot of the Sunne Flute. We, the Phantoms, swore to Tapu Fini that we would defend it from thieves and intruders."

"Tapu Fini?" Reimu asked. "You mean, the Island Guardian?"

"Yeah, I know, right?" Ryuji smirked. "It's because there ain't a Kahuna on Poni to keep it safe instead, so it came to us while we were out one day and said 'hey, could you defend this ancient artifact for me?'"

"It must really trust you all to give you such a task," Lillie said.

"Yup," Morgana boasted. "This is one treasure we'll never steal."

"Not like we can," Ann added. She walked over to the Flute and attempted to take it off the pedestal, but it wouldn't budge. "See this? It won't move, unless you're someone worthy of taking it away."

"The Moone Flute had a similar protection on it," Yusuke added, "but seeing as you already have it, there's no doubt you can take this flute as well."

Reimu clapped her hands. "Alright, then. So, can I take it now?"

Ren smiled evilly.

"Oh, I'm afraid I can't let you take it that easily," he said.

"Hm?"

All of the Phantoms gathered at his side. "I said that Tapu Fini wanted us to guard this. So, if you really are worthy of taking it…"

"Then surely, you can defeat all of us!" Morgana added.

Reimu stared forward, then smiled.

"Oh, I see how it is." A wicked look spread across her face. "Very well. I accept your challenge. I just can't guarantee you'll all still be alive afterwards."

The Phantoms accepted her challenge, and got into formation. Ryuji decided to go first. Meanwhile, Lillie, Hau and everyone else stepped back to watch the gauntlet unfold, understanding that Reimu had to do it alone.

Ryuji used a Raichu (who could use Gigavolt Havoc), an Electabuzz and an Infernape, all of which were weak to Ground. By now, Reimu had gotten a hold of an Earthquake TM, which she put on Sasha to bury them into the ground, having learned from Totem Zeraora. Sanae was capable of pelting Infernape with Air Slashes from just out of reach, causing it to go down without too much trouble.

Ann used a Lopunny, a Tsareena and a Delphox, with the Delphox being able to use Inferno Overdrive. Unfortunately, her Pokemon were all either washed away by Wakasagehime's Hydro Pump, or frozen solid with her Ice Beam.

Yusuke used a Cryoganal with Subzero Slammer, a Weavile, and a Gallade. Reimu's strategy was similar to before with Ryuji, this time melting the Ice-types with Flamethrower from Sasha while Sanae Air Slashed Gallade into the ground.

Makoto was a trainer of Poison-types who could use Acid Downpour, including Weezing and Toxicroak, but again, they fell to Earthquake as well as Psychic, which Sanae could use in addition to Air Slash and Energy Ball.

Futaba led off with a Wash Rotom, where Sanae's Energy Ball came in handy, with the rest of her team consisting of a Porygon-2 with an Eviolite and a Porygon-Z packing Hyper Beam and Normalium-Z. This actually gave Reimu some trouble since Porygon-2 was tough as a brick while Porygon-Z's Hyper Beam-based Nasty Plotted Adaptability Breakneck Blitz hit like a nuke knocking out even Magnezone, but both were still easily felled by Lucario's Aura Sphere.

Haru used Psychic Pokemon, with her trump card being a Gardevoir with Shattered Psyche. Not that Sasha cared, since he took no damage from Psychic attacks and could use Darkest Lariat in order to pummel them, with Sanae landing the killing shot on Gardevoir with Shadow Ball.

Kasumi was primarily a Fairy-type trainer, first using an Aromatisse and then a Klefki before sending out a Galarian Rapidash capable of using Twinkle Tackle. Since all were Fairy-type, they were easy pickings for Magnezone's and Lucario's Flash Cannons.

With everyone except Ren and Morgana having been defeated, Reimu stood confidently and said, "I guess strength in numbers isn't of much help against one who has beaten up goddesses," she boasted.

"Hah…" Ryuji huffed. "No kiddin'. You're the real deal. The rumors were true after all."

"Tch," Reimu clicked. "Now then, I guess it's time for me to face the leader-"

A roar from a Charizard could be heard above. Everyone looked up, and saw the Charizard swoop down low to the ground, when a young man in a sharp detective suit jumped down and recalled it to the ride pager. Landing on the ground on both feet and one hand, he got up, fixed his tie and brushed his hair to one side.

"Well now," he said, "I wish you would have let me know you would be coming here before showing a challenger to the Sunne Flute. My Rotom Dex let me know you were all here while I was in the middle of taking notes during a questioning at Aether Paradise."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Reimu asked.

"Oh, my apologies, where are my manners?" He shook her hand. "My name is Goro. Goro Akechi. I'm another member of this club, but I also intern with the International Police."

"I'm sorry we did this on short notice," Makoto apologized. "They came in suddenly."

"You intern with the International Police?" Elio asked.

"Yes, I do," Akechi answered. "I am quite the detective, and they called on me to help them out with investigating Team Skull before sending me to Aether Paradise when that island appeared. I was actually talking to Gladion yesterday and he told me about you and his sister."

"I think I was downstairs at the time," Marisa said.

"What were you doing downstairs?" Reimu asked accusingly.

"Err… I was just, talkin' with some folks!"

"Uh-huh, sure," Reimu said, knowing Marisa was hiding something. She turned back to Akechi and said, "so I guess I have to get through you, too."

"It would seem so," Akechi smiled. "Now then, shall we duel?"

"Absolutely, hit me with your worst," Reimu dared.

Akechi led out with his own Decidueye, who was very capable of shooting arrows in order to nail in Sasha with feather arrows. Sasha, however, had Flamethrower to damage Decidueye, which caused it to burn up after a while, releasing Sasha from the Spirit Shackle.

Akechi then sent out a Morpeko, a curious rodent which switched between a happy mode and an angry mode at the drop of a hat. Reimu figured out it was Dark-type and therefore had a Fighting weakness, meaning Lucario was able to Aura Sphere it into the ground.

Finally, Akechi sent out a Grimmsnarl, a grotesque, hairy beast who could even use its hair as a whip and a spear. Lucario, however, could outfox its brutal attacks and hit it with Flash Cannon, causing it to fall.

Spinning a Pokeball on her finger and looking at a defeated Akechi, Reimu clicked her teeth again. "So, Mr. Ace Detective, I quite easily came out on top."

"Hmph," he smiled politely. "Your reputation is well-deserved." He handed her his business card, which she accepted before facing Ren and Morgana. "Now I've _really _gotten through everyone," she said. "And you are my final challenge."

"Oi oi, don't forget about me," Morgana said walking up. "I'm a Pokemon too, you need to beat me before you can do anything to him."

Reimu giggled. "Oh, alright." She pointed at him. "Get him, Lucario." Lucario nodded and dashed over to his opponent.

"Oh, don't think I'm some _normal _Meowth," Morgana boasted. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve." At that moment, he pulled out a pair of very large sabers from nowhere, leapt into the air, and took a slash at Lucario, which Lucario blocked with a set of claws emerging from the spikes on his hands. Sure enough, Morgana proved a tougher nut to crack than a regular Meowth, since in addition to using weapons he revealed he could, for some reason, unleash Hurricane to do massive damage. Lucario got caught up in one, wounding him considerably and causing him to get very dizzy and causing his strikes to miss.

"Snap out of it!" Reimu yelled. "Remember, Aura Sphere doesn't miss!" Hearing his trainer's command, Lucario focused just enough to throw an Aura Sphere at Morgana.

Morgana sidestepped the attack, taunting "nya nya nya nya!" at Reimu while wagging his tongue, unaware that the Aura Sphere turned around behind him and struck him from behind, causing him to scream "NYAAAAAAAA!" as he was launched up into the air.

Feeling now was the time to step in, Ren sent out his Honchkrow to go after Lucario. It proved a tricky fighter with Sucker Punch and Acrobatics, managing to knock out Lucario but not before being weakened enough by Lucario's Ice Punch that Magnezone's Thunderbolt completely fried it.

"Heh," Ren chuckled. "You're quite tough."

"Thanks," Reimu smirked.

"...but how would you feel if I did THIS?" Brandishing an Ultra Ball, he flung it, and out of it emerged something Reimu wasn't prepared for: a titanic, hulking demon with six wings, six legs and a death stare. It was none other than Giratina.

"WHAT THE-" Marisa yelled wide-eyed. "WHERE THE HELL DID YA GET THAT THING?"

"Thief's secret," Ren claimed. "Now then, Flamethrower!" And Giratina did as asked, roasting Magnezone with Flamethrower and forcing Reimu to recall it.

"Ghehh…" she grunted. Grasping at straws, she sent out Wakasagehime. "Hit that thing with Dragon Pulse or something!" And so Wakasagihime charged up a Dragon Pulse attack and fired it. "Giratina" attempted to dodge it before being struck, and struck hard, causing the Illusion to drop and revealing the knocked-out Zoroark that it truly was.

Reimu felt a rush drain from her body as she sheepishly said, "ehehehe… I guess Wakasagi is a little stronger than I thought."

"It would seem so," Ren said. He only had one Pokeball left while Reimu still had three fighting-fit Pokemon at her disposal, but he still seemed awfully confident in himself.

"What's the smug look?" Reimu asked.

"That Giratina was a farce," he said. "But you must remember that Zoroark only takes the guise of things it sees, either Pokemon and humans present or, more commonly, Pokemon in its trainer's party."

Reimu's face went white. "...what do you mean?"

"I mean, _this _," he sneered menacingly as he spun an Ultra Ball into the air. Out of it came a hulking demon with six wings, six legs and a death stare. It was none other than Giratina. And this time, it was the _real deal _.

"LIKE I SAID, WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT THING?" Marisa shouted pointing at it.

"Can't tell you," Ren smiled again. "A fateful encounter, I will say." He pointed his finger forward, after which Giratina seemingly disappeared in a dark mist.

"Huh?" Reimu wondered. The monster had seemingly vanished into thin air. She pointed at Wakasagehime and commanded, "keep your guard up! I don't know what's going on!"

A few tense moments passed, in which nothing seemed to be happening. Reimu could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing straight up, and with each passing moment a mounting, cold sense of dread steadily built up in her gut and sent chills down her spine.

Reimu was aware of an attack that Giratina was said to possess in which it disappeared into nothing before suddenly emerging to strike. It was similar to the normal attack Phantom Force, but much stronger. And now, Reimu was on edge, trying to anticipate it and have Wakasagehime dodge accordingly.

Then, suddenly, she was overcome with a massive mental surge she wasn't expecting, causing her to hold her head in pain while a sudden flash overcame her, and the pained roar of her Pokemon could be heard. When she looked back up, still gasping, Giratina had reappeared, and Wakasagehime had fainted.

"Gheehh," she grunted as she recalled her and sent Sasha out to replace her.

Ren wagged his finger smiling haughtily. "Anything is a viable tactic if you can use it. I heard it from a man once, who told me a graceful loss is still a loss, and a dirty win is still a win."

"We'll see about that," Reimu grated as she ordered Sasha to attack. Again, Giratina disappeared into a mist, leaving Sasha confused and frustrated.

"Hold your attack," Reimu commanded. She realized the sudden surge she had felt before was a massive amount of Aura just before Giratina struck. Now, she wondered if she could sense it, and plan a retaliation based on it. Standing in place and concentrating hard, she attempted to sense its presence, and now that she was looking for it felt a steadily growing amount of Aura building off to one side. Then, once it had reached a critical mass, she held out her gohei and commanded, "now, attack that way!"

Sasha did as asked, and just as Giratina crashed through a Distortion World portal and lunged straight at Sasha from behind, Sasha spun around and perfectly landed an enzuigiri right on the monster's nose. Time seemed to stop for a second before Giratina was launched back and fell fight onto the ground, disoriented and with birds and stars circling its head.

"Heh heh heh… Sasha!" Reimu snapped on a Darkinium-Z, held it up, and let the Z-Power enter Sasha, powering him up and allowing him to punch the ground, causing the Z-Power to concentrate into his fist and then exit as a mass of dark blobs, which floated up into the air and created a black hole which sucked Giratina in before exploding forcefully, rocketing Giratina downwards.

Ren's smug smile turned into a frown as he watched the situation deteriorate. As Giratina fell, Sasha stomped, causing a plus-sized rope fence to emerge on the other side of the arena. Just before Giratina hit the ground, Sasha kicked it into the ropes, causing Giratina to rebound and allowing Sasha to land a devastating lariat right on its neck, knocking out Giratina instantly and launching it so hard it actually fell into the sea.

Reimu did a brief pirouette before pointing her gohei at Ren and taunting, "don't be so cocky." She then gave Sasha a fist bump and fed him a Rainbow Bean before recalling him. Coincidentally, Morgana hit the ground behind her, his butt on fire from re-entry into the planet's atmosphere.

There was a stunned silence for a few moments, where the only noises were the ocean breeze and the distant calls of Exeggutors. Ren recalled Giratina, who already had a pesky Pyukumuku latched onto it, and stared forward at the shrine maiden before him.

Then, he smirked, and chuckled.

"Heh. Hehehehe…" he laughed just a tad nervously. "So, everything they say about you is _really _true," he said. "I'll have to admit: the way you finished off Giratina is the same sort of brutal tactic we would normally use."

"It helps that I could also sense Giratina's Aura to help counter the attack, once I knew what to look for," Reimu said.

"Aura-sensing…" Yukari mumbled.

"Hm?" Reimu asked.

"Oh, sorry," Yukari smiled. "What I meant was, Hakurei Shrine maidens possess the ability to sense all sorts of auras in living things, the flow of life energy and natural forces which course through the earth and sky. Shine maidens before Katura made extensive use of it, but when Katsura invented the Spell Card System and could settle disputes that way, she generally did not use it and neither did Reimu. Now, Reimu is in a situation where she requires it more than ever." She thought for a moment, then added, "although, Hakurei Shine maidens did not _always _possess that ability. In fact, the first one to have it, Fuuka Hakurei, was only born a few centuries ago, and was the daughter of the then-current miko and a strange man who came from a distant land, from whom she and future generations likely inherited it. Mind you, the Hakurei bloodline goes back a thousand years."

"I see," Makoto noted. "So, is that ability similar to how Lucario can sense Aura?"

"Now that you mention it," Reimu said, "I think me and my Lucario met because of that. When we were travelling around Akala, it was a Riolu who tailed me, hiding behind bushes and in trash cans before joining me during that race. We think it did that because it could sense my Aura-abilities. Later, it Mega-Evolved, and we could feel energy flowing between the both of us allowing us to direct each other's actions. So it definitely felt some sort of strong potential in me. Now, I can't throw Aura Spheres or anything like that, I'm not THAT good with manipulating it. But it is a very interesting ability, one which I almost never thought about before because it wasn't too useful in my day-to-day duties as a shrine maiden, but now…"

Ren fixed his glasses, then cast them off to reveal he didn't even need them. "Regardless, you've proven yourself worthy. After all, you basically kicked all of our asses." He stepped aside, leaving Reimu's path to the Sunne Flute unobstructed. Walking up to it, Reimu held out her hand hesitantly, the radiating solar energy from the flute gently warming her palm, before grasping it and lifting it up from its pedestal, promoting a round of applause from the Phantoms and everyone else. She then placed it in the same pouch as the Moone Flute.

With nothing else left to do, the group hiked back down to the boat, and made the relatively uneventful journey back to Seafolk Village, where Reimu and Marisa recounted their misadventures to the Phantoms, with Yukari cutting in every so often with unwanted anecdotes which may or may not have been true, and mostly served to embarrass Reimu in front of everyone else and forcing Reimu to have to bribe Futaba to not post it all over social media (she still posted it on her personal image board anyway). By the time they got back, it was time for lunch; Makoto had planned on making sandwiches, but Yukari had other plans, gapping a bunch of hamburgers from… _somewhere _into the boat and prompting a three-way eating contest between Hau, Ryuji and Yusuke, which Sasha won despite not even being in the eating contest.

After lunch, Reimu's group left. "Thanks for having us, and thanks for showing us to the Sunne Flute."

"It was a pleasure having you too," Ren said. Everyone else waved their goodbyes as the group left, with Hau being the last one out the door.

"...maaaaaaaan," Ryuji said. "She's no joke."

"I agree," Morgana chimed. "She is the most skillful fighter I've ever come across. There's no doubt she can put an end to this mystery."

"But was it really necessary to unleash Giratina on her?" Makoto asked. "I mean, if she didn't have ability…"

"I knew she could do it," Ren said confidently. "The reason I got it from Dawn was to test anyone trying to get the flute. The legend said that only a worthy individual could take those flutes in a time of need. I don't think and unworthy person would have Aura powers that could let them stop Giratina's attack. And besides, I already knew she was worthy. I would have thrown the match if she otherwise wasn't going to win." Just then, his phone buzzed. "Oh, sorry guys, it's mom. Gotta take this." He pulled out his phone, briefly revealing his wallpaper, which showed him and Ann proudly holding up a Magearna which they found on a remote rock on one of their treasure hunts.


	43. The Guardian of the Island

After leaving the Phantom's club boat, the group strolled up to the Pokemon Center, the only one on the island. Just outside it, Hapu turned around and faced the main trio, plus Elio.

"I want to give you all something before we go inside." Reaching into her back, she pulled out four bills, each one worth 100,000 Pokedollars, and handed them to each one.

"Whoa," Hau said wide-eyed. "What's this for?"

Hapu looked up, and told them all, "this is the sole Pokemon Center on the island. Not only that, but you all - we all - are about to go face a highly uncertain situation." She pointed to the general direction of the Altar of the Sunne, the summit of which was obscured by barren ridges. "We are going to the Altar of the Sunne. In order to get there, we have to pick our way through the Vast Poni Canyon, where the Dragon Trial blocks the path. Once we manage to get there, there is no telling which direction the incident will go. So then, I would strongly recommend stocking up on items before we set off."

"She's not kidding," Zinnia added. "The Vast Poni Canyon is tough, and chock-full of strong trainers there to practice against the tough Pokemon that live there. It's also the only place in the islands where Kommo-o live, and they are fierce warriors. And then of course, if we really are going to face Necrozma once we reach the Altar…" She paused for a second. "...either way, we all need to be ready for anything."

Yukari stepped in and added to this, "I am going to avoid using my powers in public as much as possible. Not just to avoid public panic, but…" She looked to where the Altar was. "When we arrived here, I felt very strong energies being emanated from the Altar. In particular, the fabric of reality is especially weak there. I do not know how my powers would interact with the anomaly, but most likely the results would not be good, and could threaten to create a very hazardous situation. I estimate using my powers would not be safe within twenty kilometers of the Altar."

Hapu noted, "twenty kilometers is about the straight-line distance between the mouth of the canyon and the Altar."

"I can find a safe place to gap us back to Gensokyo if need be to get more supplies or if anyone feels unready to face the trials ahead before then," Yukari said. "However, once we get far in that canyon, there is no going back. I hope you all understand that. If anyone is getting second thoughts about what is about to happen, please say so."

No one said a word. Lillie thought about going back to get her new dress, but from what she managed to gather about Yukari so far, she figured that would just make the situation worse. So, she kept mum and accepted that she was just have to put up with the ridiculous dancer dress until this was all over.

"Fufufufu…" she chuckled. "So then. This mission really only does contain people who want to see this through. Very well." She stepped down. "Take as much time as you need to prepare."

Inside the Pokemon Center, Reimu felt it would be wise to indoctrinate Marisa and Sunshine into the general world of Pokemon battling. While Marisa had some passing knowledge on the subject from what Mohn had told her as well as her own extremely hazy recollections, she had been removed from the world for so long and at such a young age that she was little more prepared than the average Human Villager. Reimu, being accustomed to being Marisa's minder, felt the need to set some ground rules.

"Alright, so, we need to set some boundaries before we go any further," she said.

"Alright, shoot," Marisa responded.

Reimu started, "so, we're in a society that runs on common sense… sort of. So we need you and Sunshine to fit in as much as possible. That means no flying around with or without your broom, no using spell cards or witchcraft unless it's an emergency, and _absolutely no Master-Sparking. _"

"Aww," Marisa complained.

"I know it sucks, but you need to use your Pokemon to battle others and, oh, no attacking other humans. In fact, now that I'm thinking about it," she held out her hand, "give it to me."

"...what?" Marisa asked, feigning ignorance.

"You know what I'm talking about. Now hand it over."

"...fine." Marisa reached into her bag, got out her Mini-Hakkero and gave it to Reimu, who then put it in her bag for safe-keeping.

On the subject of Pokemon, Reimu then asked Marisa, "I understand you and Sunshine both already have Pokemon."

"Yup!" Marisa reached into her bag, pulled out a Pokeball, and sent out Misdreavus to demonstrate.

"Misdree~!"

Reimu examined it. "I see. Not bad, but let's see how powerful your Pokemon are. Rotom!"

Rotom zapped out of Reimu's bag, startling the witch and Sunshine. "Rotom at your servizzzzzce!"

"Can you scan Marisa's Pokemon for me and see how powerful they are? And also look at Sunshine's?"

"Sure can do!" And so Rotom got to work analyzing their 'mons. While not commonly discussed among casual trainers, there was a rough Level system which competitive leagues often used to gauge the strength of Pokemon on a scale of 1-100, with 1 being freshly-hatched Pokemon and 100 being the realistic upper limit of their strength and skill. A quick scan of Marisa's two Pokemon revealed they were both around level 30, not bad but also not especially high compared to her, Lillie's and Hau's, who were all between 40-55 at last check. There was also the fact that neither of Marisa's Pokemon were evolved, and so were relatively weak as a result.

"Hmm… not bad, but also not good." She looked up at Marisa and said, "you'd best stay near either myself, Lillie or Hau. Or, well, Elio as well, I guess. We're all experienced trainers and can get you out of trouble if we need to. You should also focus on expanding your team."

"Eh, alright, I guess," Marisa sighed. The truth was, she _did _have a strong Pokemon as well, but she had wisely left it behind at Alice's before coming here. "But I'll become stronger than 'ya, I swear!"

Reimu laughed. "Oh, alright, I suppose. Now then, Sunshine." Reimu had Rotom look at her party, which had a mythical, one Ultra Beast, Ichigo and Metang, the latter of which was the only one Reimu recognized. She was met with a couple surprises: except for Metang, everyone was at least level 50. Second, not only did it scan Sunshine's Pokemon, it seemingly scanned Sunshine herself, further confirming suspicions that she was another Necrozma. Further suggesting this was the fact that Rotom detected a Psychic/Dragon Pokemon when her Pokemon otherwise didn't fit that description (Rotom identified Ichigo as a Psychic/Fairy, recorded the name Wisdoll which Sunshine had previously mentioned, and wrote an impromptu Dex entry, while Kartana was recorded as a Grass/Steel). Reimu decided not to mention it right then since it meant they would be there a while, so she just cut to the important stuff.

"...what is it?" Sunshine asked.

"Yeah, what's the result?" Marisa echoed.

Reimu looked up and told them, "Sunshine's good on her own."

Marisa was wide-eyed. "WHAAAAT?!"

"She just has strong Pokemon. That's all I can say."

Marisa, flustered, went up to Sunshine. "Well, I still gotta stay by her side. Alice'll get mad at me if I don't!"

"That's fine," Reimu said. "Maybe you can be each other's bodyguards," she joked.

"EEEHHHH?" Marisa was blushing super-red now, and not even Lillie could restrain herself from braying like a donkey.

"Er… is everything alright?" the Nurse Joy asked them.

Reimu turned around. "Oh, yeah, sorry about that. They're just new to training Pokemon, that's all."

"_ Alright _," the nurse said. Once everything had calmed down, Reimu ensured everyone was healed up and stocked up with items before buying everyone coffee and tea. Reimu had grown used to coffee by this point and so got a Hoennese dark roast with a pinch of cinnamon… a coffee order that Elio also happened to like.

"Are you trying to impress me?" Reimu asked.

"Not at all, I just like really dark coffee," he said.

Marisa felt the need to step in and so joked, "ya know, if you're tryin' to make a move on her, she's got really high standards even though you need a cattle prod to get her goin' most mornings."

"Oh really?" Reimu countered. "And what about you, Ms. sleeps-in-until-noon?"

"I got Alice and her dolls, so I'm good!"

...no arguing with that, Reimu thought, since it reminded her just how single she was. Also because Marisa was always right, as far was Marisa was concerned in times like these.

"Wait, what are we talking about?" Hau asked, confused.

"I'm just talkin' about how Reimu needs to go actually find someone to resolve incidents with besides me, if you know what I mean," Marisa winked.

"...what?" Hau was still puzzled.

"What I mean is, she needs someone to be with so that the shrine isn't so emmmphphpppmmmpmhpmphhh…" Reimu had covered Marisa's mouth with her hand.

"Stop it right there, he's just a boy," Reimu scolded. "He doesn't need your misguided anecdotes on romance until they cover that in school."

"...huh?" Hau tilted his head.

"_ We… _can talk about this later," Lillie said holding his shoulder.

"Oh, really now?" said a voice coming into the Pokemon Center.

"Yukari, I thought you were going to wait outside!" Reimu complained.

"I was, but I just couldn't resist this conversation about romance involving _my _Reimu," she said slyly.

Reimu blushed. "I-I'm not a kid anymore, can you not say things like that?"

"I'm only here to ensure that you get married to the best, and not some irresponsible party animal like a few people I know."

"EEEHHH? M-M-Marr-"

The boys in the room were both unsure what was going on right now, and so was Sunshine, for whom romance was still something of an esoteric concept. Marisa, for her part, kept her mouth shut to avoid being backhanded by Reimu on sight.

She turned around to face Lillie and Hau. "And, you know, the way I've seen you two interact, it would seem as though you would make a fine couple in the future."

"WHHHAAAAAA?" This time, both of them were hit like a ton of bricks as Hau was overcome with massive embarrassment while Lillie was rendered into a blushing, stuttering mess on the floor.

"I only kid," Yukari smiled. "I just think that the way you take care of Hau is very endearing."

Reimu was now very uncomfortable, and wanted to get out of there as soon as she could. "Uh, yeah, sure. Let's, uhh, get our stuff together and get on our way, m'kay?" Everyone was quick to agree.

* * *

Gladion turned out to be correct when he said that there was practically no civilization on Poni: past Seafolk Village was a sprawling, wild grassland where Pokemon lurked about and people could be seen picking berries, a rough ATV trail being the only semblance of a road in the area. Compared to the other islands, Poni was relatively barren, being in the rain shadow of each of the other three islands and with the recent appearance of Gensokyo affecting the climate as well. Palm trees were relatively few and occured mostly only on beaches and around streams. Much of the island was covered in stone canyons and badlands, the largest of them being Vast Poni Canyon. Located in the heart of these badlands was the Altar of the Sunne. As a result, fierce winds often scoured the island, and dust storms were a common occurrence. Such harsh conditions meant that only hardy species of Pokemon lived here, and its remote location ensured few humans lived here as well, causing life here to be very rustic. Unlike every other island, it had no resorts or other tourist facilities aside from a couple adventure operators. Even the Island Challenge was barely supported; there was no Kahuna and only one trial that trainers had to clear, and this combined with its remoteness meant that almost no one besides people originally from here began their trials here.

As the group walked down the trail, Reimu marveled at just how open and wild the place was. Of course, the other islands had their fair share of open space, but this place was truly untamed, feeling empty even compared to Gensokyo. It was as if she had stepped back in time, back to when the islands were undeveloped and tribal, unsullied by developers and vacationers.

"It's beautiful," Reimu said.

"That's the magic of Poni," Hapu explained. "Mysterious but not too mysterious. So out there most don't bother coming, but close enough to attract a determined few. Out here you can get back to nature in a way that you simply can't on the other islands. The only trainers who come out here are serious about their practice too, since we only get trial-goers, veterans out here to deaden their Pokemon and themselves against the tough environment, those hoping to score rare species, and of course the members of the elite club at the end of the island."

Reimu was curious. "What is this 'Elite Club?'"

"The Battle Tree," Hapu explained. "It's very, very old, some say thousands of years. Ancient Alolans gathered there for grand tournaments, and to this day the world's strongest and most skilled trainers still converge their to test their wits and those of their Pokemon. They even trade rare items like Mega Stones, high-tier battle items and the like, and there are tutors there that can teach exclusive moves, all in exchange for 'battle points' that they earn by doing well in an endless series of battles. They're very particular about who can join, since they only want the best; there have been regional champions who have been denied membership."

"Yeesh," Reimu expressed. "I didn't know there were people _that _elite and snobby about Pokemon battles."

"That said, I feel you wouldn't have trouble joining," Hapu commented. "You've proven yourself a very formidable and capable fighter, only held back by not knowing the finer points of competitive battling, which you can honestly just read about."

"Um… thanks," Reimu said, flattered. She then regained her composure. "That said, that's not why we're here. We're here strictly for business, and there's no guarantee I'll even still be here in Alola to take up that challenge even if I wanted to."

"Understood," Hapu nodded.

_Killjoy _, Marisa thought to herself. Whenever she heard of a challenge, even if she was certain to lose, Marisa was not one to pass it up, which was why she kept trying to "borrow" books from Patchouli's library in spite of her increasingly amped-up security measures, or getting into fights with beings much stronger than herself. It was just her nature, hard-wired into her by her Kirisame imperial heritage which had led her ancestors to practically own half the world. And even in defeat, her stubborn yet optimistic demeanor ensured her loss would never keep her down for long, as she always learned from her losses and schemed ways to win next time.

The group transversed the grassy path, knocking aside a few trainers and wild Pokemon, gathering loose berries, and taking photographs of the stunning surroundings, plants and wildlife. Marisa dabbled in fighting wild Pokemon a couple of times, fumbling both times and requiring Lillie of all people to bail her out, but even so she would not be deterred that easily. She kept going as they went along, working out the kinks in her technique and getting a feel for how both Misdreavus and Pumpkaboo fought. Even Yukari joined in on the fun, trolling trainers with her seemingly normal Espeon and Ninetales whose appearances belied the power of a nine-tailed kitsune and a juvenile but still very formidable baneneko. It helped that Chen was a master of using her "cute" appearance and behavior to lull opponents into a false sense of security before lashing out with a vicious strike, which even worked on Dark Pokemon which were usually immune to Psychic attacks. It did help Chen's case that Espeon was more outwardly intimidating and mystical than her "usual" appearance.

Reimu thought about this behavior and couldn't help but bring it up during a slow moment on the trail. "Hey Yukari," she asked, "why DID Ran and Chen just turn into Pokemon?"

Yukari thought for a moment, then said, "I think it has to do with how you were saying Pokemon and youkai are very similar to each other. Youkai, of course, are based on perceptions and fears and can change form as a result of those perceptions. After all, Nitori looks nothing at all like a 'normal' kappa, now does she?"

"There is that," Reimu acknowledged.

"Obviously, there are no youkai native to this realm. That means youkai shifting away from a human form here would take the form of a Pokemon most closely matching their species. In the case of Ran and Chen, that means these two Pokemon, which are similar to a kitsune and a baneneko, respectively."

"I see, I get it." Zinnia had taken an interest in the conversation. "So basically, youkai are creatures born of myths and fears. There are actually a few Pokemon, mostly Ghost Pokemon, who come into existence the same way. And in the past, ancient humans came up with their own tales and legends based on the Pokemon around them, both mundane and legendary. Some tales were correct, some were not, others practically shaped how the Pokemon appears and behaves… just like the youkai you describe."

"Exactly," Yukari replied. "And it seems Ran and Chen at least can use not only their existing skills and powers, but also those which the species of Pokemon whose forms they assume can learn as well. Chen never displayed outright psychic powers before, for instance, but can still utilize the power of illusion and misdirection. Likewise, there probably aren't many or even any Espeon who can receive power from a higher being as she can. One could say she's even stronger as an Espeon than she is normally because of that."

"Perhaps that's why ending up here in the Pokemon World hasn't caused the youkai to poof out of existence even though they're exposed to the modern world - a world with _more _advanced technology than Earth - and scientific explanations are everywhere," Reimu noted. "I recall telling Hau something like this a while ago: people here still hang onto faith, because it still regularly plays out despite how much the world has changed. Not just the antics of legendary Pokemon, but also the fact that human psychics and the like exist, so a girl whose head pops off and flies everywhere or, hell, the sudden appearance of an island out of nowhere doesn't cause nearly as much panic and hearsay as it would on Earth. Plus, they have Pokemon forms they can potentially fall into if needed." She thought for a moment, then came to a conclusion. "I think it's lucky they all ended up here as opposed to somewhere else. If anything, this place might actually be safer for them than Earth…" Reimu visibly trailed off.

"Is something wrong?" Elio asked.

"Oh, sorry, it's nothing," Reimu said. Although, in reality, she thought about what she had just said, about this place maybe being safer for youkai than Earth. A lucky coincidence, or perhaps part of Necrozma's plan? Either way, she needed answers, and fast.

* * *

Continuing down the path, a ranch full of Mudbray, Mudsdale and various other equine Pokemon came into view. It was expansive, and covered a good deal of acreage atop a bluff overlooking the sea. A couple hands could also be seen tending to the horses.

"This is my home," Hapu told everyone.

"Oh my," Lillie said. "It's very nice. I didn't know you lived in a place like this."

"It's been in my family for generations," Hapu said. "Right now, my parents are out for an exhibition, but my grandmother is still here looking after everything." She looked up at the sky. "It's getting late in the day, so I thought it would be appropriate to lodge you all here for the night."

"How come?" Hau asked. "I mean, this is a pretty urgent incident."

"Yes, I know. But summoning Solgaleo must be done during the day. If we attempted to go to the Altar now, it would be the middle of the night by the time we arrived, and the canyon gets cold and a little dangerous at night. Certainly, you would prefer sleeping here as opposed to camping out in the cold, wouldn't you?"

"I mean, I guess," Reimu shrugged. "Necrozma hasn't made any significant moves since it moved Gensokyo, and we are all still moving very quickly. I think we can afford it."

"Splendid," Hapu smiled. "I'll go inside and let grandmother know we have guests." She went toward the front door, and the group followed behind her. Before entering, Reimu turned around and set some rules for everyone, mostly directed at Marisa and Yukari.

"Alright. So, we're at a guest's house, that means we're on our best behavior and we're respectful. No trolling, no riddles, no drinking alcohol, no strange dancing or mannerisms," that last one being directed at Satano and Mai. "I also want to get going early in the morning, so don't stay up late. I'm getting all of you up at the crack of dawn and we'll be leaving immediately. Got that?"

"...eh," Marisa grunted. Yukari wasn't sure how to take being given orders by Reimu, but admittedly Reimu was the one leading the group, so she deferred to her judgement, especially since she didn't want to be seen as an unwelcome guest. Mostly everyone else acquiesced to Reimu's demands, and after everything was settled they entered.

The inside of the ranch house was grand, with finely finished wood floors and walls, extravagant rugs and furniture, mounted stuffed heads on the walls, and a native Alolan mural stretching from one end of the room to the other, depicting the legendary battle between the Island Guardians, Solgaleo and Lunala vs. Necrozma. Everyone marvelled at how fancy the house was, and realized that Hapu's family was very wealthy and went far back.

"Hello?" Reimu called out.

"Alola!" Hapu's grandmother came around the corner, with Hapu at her side. "Welcome to our home! You're Reimu, aren't you?"

"That would be me," Reimu said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Hapu's grandmother smiled. "And are these all your friends?"

"Well, not _all _of them, but my friends are all here, too." Friends, Reimu thought. She never felt so proud to say that word.

Yukari reached out her hand. "My name is Yukari Yakumo. I'm one of the three Sages of Gensokyo, and Reimu's mentor." The two women shook hands.

"I'm Hau!" Hau said with a big smile and a wave.

"My name is Lillie."

"And I'm Marisa!" Marisa shouted grabbing Lillie with one arm and holding her by her side while Lillie tried to push away.

"I'm Zinnia." She also reached out her hand and shook.

"My name is Elio," he waved.

Hapu's grandmother looked behind them and saw Satano and Mai. "And you two?"

"They're… special needs," Reimu sarcastically commented.

"Ohoho, I see. And is Lillie with them?"

"NO!" Lillie shouted and pouted. She lifted her hand in protest, only to find a lily flower in her hand matching Satano's myouga and Mai's bamboo stick.

"WHERE'D I GET THIS FROM?" she shouted.

"They're like that, trust me," Marisa shrugged. "I guess Okina started coming down harder on making them find replacements."

"Hm?" Hapu's grandmother wondered.

"Oh, don't mind them," Yukari hand-waved. "They're servants of a fellow Sage. Except Lillie… I think." She giggled behind her fan.

Hapu's grandmother smiled before looking down at Sunshine. "And who's this little lady? You haven't introduced yourself."

Marisa patted the little girl's head. "This is Sunshine. She's a little shy right now, she's not used to this many people around or this situation just yet."

"Um… hi," Sunshine said.

Hapu turned to look at her. "I don't mean to offend, but you seem like a very special girl."

"Well, I mean, she _was _one of Alice's dolls," Marisa said, "But then things happened and she became a real girl! ...eh, sort of."

"Hm?" Hapu wondered. Then, a light hit Sunshine's eye, briefly turning it's golden iris into a sapphire crystal matrix before turning it back.

"...I see," Hapu said with a little surprise. But then again, this whole group was a bit odd, with Satano and Mai just being the most outwardly strange and Yukari's ability to make hamburgers appear out of nowhere causing her to wonder just what sorts of tricks this woman hid up her sleeve.

Regardless, she shook her head, and said to everyone, "we have dinner cooking in the other room, and some of the field hands will be joining us as well. We also have some extra bunks, and space for some tents for anyone who wants to camp out."

"Oooh, a campout!" Marisa brightly smirked. "Maybe we can have some of those 's'mores' Hau was talkin' about?"

Reimu crossed her arms. "Why are you always seemingly only motivated by food?"

"'Cause I'm always hungry!" Marisa said. "Girl's gotta eat! How else am I gonna keep up this figure if don't put anything in it?"

Reimu rolled her eyes. "Well, I _guess _, the problem is I just don't see where any of those calories are going."

"...H-HEY!" Marisa yelled, flustered. "That's not a slam against me, is it?!" The fact that her hands were on her chest made it abundantly clear what Reimu was needling Marisa about.

"Oh, I don't know," Reimu teased slyly. "Maybe you're just wishing you were a little more… weighty in _certain _spots compared to others." Marisa kept blushing like a bright-red cherry while everyone just awkwardly scattered and did their own thing.

Hau, for one, was massively confused, as with most things of this sort. "What are they talking about?" he asked Lillie.

Lillie patted him on the head and said to him, "I'm… sure someone will tell you when you're a little older."

_Why won't anyone tell me anything 'until I'm older?' _Hau thought to himself. What secrets were the girls and adults keeping from him all the time? It bothered him so much, he just wanted to know.

* * *

A couple hours later, as the sun was going down, everyone was gathered outside where huge bowls of pasta, sauce and salad along with some bread and butter awaited all the hungry guests and ranch hands. Earlier, Hapu thought it would be fun for Sunshine to try out riding on the back of a Mudsdale, to which Marisa agreed, so she took the little girl for a ride around the ranch. Marisa wasn't sure if Sunshine would enjoy it or not, given that she was used to being able to just fly around on her own and couldn't see how riding a horse would be as enjoyable in comparison. But, Sunshine said she enjoyed it, so Marisa was glad at least. Reimu also gave Marisa some tips on how to conduct Pokemon battles, including a practice match where she asked Hau to battle her with just Raichu and to tell it not to fight as hard as usual. After a while, Marisa got the hang of it, and both of her Pokemon came out knowing some stronger moves than before. Following those activities, a carbo-load was certainly in order, and Hapu's Grandmother made more than enough even for the large crowd.

"This is delicious," Marisa said though a mouthful of noodles.

"What happened to your table manners?" Reimu scolded.

"Hey, I told ya I was hungry!" Marisa retorted.

Reimu shook her head and looked around, seeing Hau and Sunshine engaged in an impromptu eating contest. Reimu knew that Sunshine was capable of putting away a lot of food, but whatever happened to her that made her not a doll anymore seemingly also gave her an appetite that gave Hau's a run for his money, as evidenced both by the large bowls of pasta in front of them plus the huge stack of malasadas behind them that appeared seemingly out of… oh, wait, Yukari was with them, wasn't she? Of course that's where all the malasadas came from, and it seemed she enjoyed them as well. Ran and Chen, still in their Pokemon forms, could also be seen munching on some Poke Puffs and beans. Zinnia was practically inhaling the noodles as well, and had also come with a stack of ribs glazed in a thick layer of barbecue sauce while a Duraladon next to her tore into a meaty ham shank. Zinnia might as well have been wearing a viking helmet and holding a golden chalice of mead to complete the scene. Only Lillie and Elio were practicing any sort of temperance, along with the two dancers surprisingly enough; perhaps Okina wished for her servants to show good behavior and appreciation around guests in order to reflect good on herself.

The ranch hands themselves were a mix of old and young workers, either kids out of school working here for the summer or retirees who enjoyed working with Pokemon, and they had mostly split off to have their own conversations, although some had mingled in with their group and Marisa could be seen telling exaggerated stories to a couple of boys. Reimu, for the most part, was keeping to herself, just making sure that everyone was behaving themselves (even Yukari, who, as Reimu knew from personal experience, could become very high-maintenance in new situations). From her position, she could eyeball the entire yard and observe what everyone was doing.

Leading on the side of the ranch house, Reimu sipped on some peach tea, fiddling on her phone and sorting through the 9,000+ messages posted in the last few minutes with her name tagged (at this point she was considering trademarking her own name for royalties, even if she was trying to get Gensokyo and herself back where they belonged), when out of the corner of her eye she saw Hapu slipping out past the gate on the back of her Mudsdale, with several Pokeballs and a special Sparkling Stone sticking out of her bag.

_What is she doing? _Reimu wondered. It seemed awfully strange for a host to leave their guests in this manner. She went over to the side wall and saw Hapu riding off toward the coast. Piqued with curiosity, she checked her own stock of Pokeballs and slipped out silently to investigate.

"Where ya goin'?" Marisa asked out of nowhere catching Reimu off-guard.

"I'm… a little hot right now so I'm just going a take a short walk." Marisa could tell Reimu was lying, but also knew Reimu had her reasons for doing things, so decided to humor her.

"Oh, alright," she said. "Guess I'll just have the rest of your food and all the s'mores, then."

"Whatever," Reimu shrugged as she went out toward the coast.

* * *

The Poni Breaker Coast lie just beyond the ranch, and was a barren, tide-scoured area of volcanic rock spires. It was frequently covered in fog, and was known in legend as a graveyard for ships. Even in the modern day, it wasn't unusual for fishing vessels to strike the spires and sink in spite of the presence of a lighthouse and several floating buoy beacons. The way the wind blew through the rocks and crevices created a chilling, eerie whistle whose effect was only enhanced by the haunting chirps of Dreepy floating through the heavy marine fog.

By now, the sun's light was beginning to fail, heralded by the calls of Yungoos and Gumshoos steadily giving way to the squeaks and growls of Rattata and Raticate. Even with sunlight, however, the haze was so thick that it hardly mattered in terms of visibility. This forced Reimu to let Magnezone out, and have it use its antenna at the top as a light to illuminate the area around them. Fortunately, the soft mat of moss growing on the rock under her feet enabled her to follow the faint but distinct tracks that Mudsdale left behind to wherever it was that they led.

Reimu wandered for about half an hour, following the tracks and getting turned around twice before catching up to the sound of heavy clops further up. Rushing over but still trying to keep herself undetected, she rushed over through the stone idols signifying that one was about to enter a Guardian Deity's den.

A spiral path led down to the entrance of the Ruins of Hope. Thinking briefly about the place she was about to enter, and how what was supposedly the most antisocial Tapu of them all lived inside, Reimu rationalized that if Hapu thought it was safe to enter than surely she should be able to go in there and face whatever Tapu Fini threatened to throw at them. So she went right on in.

Peeking around a corner, Reimu observed Hapu, standing in front of a rough mural next to what looked like a dead end. She then saw Hapu pull out a Ride Pager, summoning a Machamp with orange gloves which carried her around in its lower arms while its upper pair of arms pushed against the wall, shoving it back until it fell down into a square hole, revealing the "wall" to be a massive stone cube with another set of halls beyond it. Reimu realized that this was a puzzle, and the mural told of where the blocks and holes were.

Reimu silently followed Hapu around, jumping from corner to corner and witnessing Machamp push two more cubes around before clearing a path to a doorway just beyond. Knowing from her experience with the Ruins of Abundance before, Reimu understood that past this doorway lay Tapu Fini's chamber.

Unbeknownst to both, however, was that Sunshine had also managed to sneak out of the party by leaving Ichigo behind, and bending light such that she appeared as her master so that Marisa would suspect nothing. She had seen Reimu leave suddenly and wondered what it was for, and as she got closer she felt a peculiar energy emanating from the ruins.

Slowly and carefully, Reimu crept up to the doorway and peered through it. From here, she could see Hapu standing in front of the altar within which the Tapu would appear when summoned. Holding out the Sparkling Stone, light began to shine both from it and the altar.

In the blink of an eye, Tapu Fini materialized. One moment it wasn't there, the next moment it was. It was as if it had appeared in a flash. The outer shell opened up like a marlin's mouth, revealing the siren-like Tapu with long, flowing hair staring Hapu down. Staring at her with intense scrutiny for several moments as its mist blew out to all sides.

Finally, Tapu Fini raised its arms, causing light to pour into the Sparkling Stone and transmuting it into an Island Kahuna stone, the same as the ones possessed by all the other Kahunas. Reimu realized what was going on: Tapu Fini had decided Hapu was worthy of becoming the Island Kahuna and carrying the legacy of her grandfather. Sunshine witnessed this event just as she rushed up to the doorway.

"I give my thanks... for your great blessing," Hapu said, holding her head down. " As kahuna, I will do my best for the people... and the Pokémon of Alola."

Reimu turned her head around and saw Sunshine rushing into the chamber, and her eyes grew wide in surprise and fear.

"Sunshine!" she whispered loudly. "What are you doing here?"

From Hapu's perspective, Tapu Fini suddenly went from serene when giving its blessing to having a glare in its eyes as it rushed past her. Hapu spun around to see what it was, and saw Fini charging Sunshine with a torrent of water at its sides.

"Sunshine?!" she called out. She wasn't expecting the Tapu, the guardian of the island, to lash out against a little girl such as Sunshine. And yet it was, which led Hapu to think that Tapu Fini, for some reason, regarded Sunshine as a threat.

Fini rushed Sunshine with waves of water and mist, hoping to drown her and wash her away into the sea. It was then that Sunshine held out her hand and her eyes went full-on crystal, one red and one blue and resembling a dragon's eyes. Her hand then projected a psychokinetic field blocking the attack, deflecting the water and causing Fini to smash right into it, causing it to careen back a few feet. Undaunted, Fini then whipped up a maelstrom of water, a towering, spinning column which it fired in Sunshine's direction, only for Sunshine to effortlessly arrest and dispel the attack, causing Reimu behind her to duck for cover as water rushed out the doorway and flooded out the entrance to the ruins.

Annoyed by Sunshine's resilience to its onslaught, Fini decided that only a direct assault with Nature's Madness would be able to put the threat down. So, gathering power, it rushed toward Sunshine with an angry took bent on brutally tearing Sunshine to pieces.

However, sensing danger to its master, Kartana popped out, counter-charged Fini, and intercepted its blow with Smart Strike, causing Fini to stagger and creating an opening to unleash a super-effectve Leaf Blade strong enough to down the island guardian and leave it at Sunshine's mercy.

Recalling Kartana and switching back to normal, Sunshine walked past it up to Hapu, to which Hapu responded by backing up in fear to the wall. Then, realizing what she needed to do in her new capacity as a Kahuna, she assumed a battling stance and readied a Pokeball, prepared to face this seeming threat to the island and perhaps all of Alola even if it meant putting her life on the line, before being stopped by a voice yelling at them, "stop, stop!"

Hapu looked up. It was Reimu, running inside the chamber toward them. She stopped just in front of them, huffing and puffing before looking at Hapu. "What do you think you're doing?! Sunshine didn't mean any harm!"

"How can I tell?" Hapu said. "Tapu Fini thought she was a threat, and not only does she wield great power, she commands an Ultra Beast as well."

Reimu was very surprised to hear those words coming from Hapu's mouth. "Wha- how do you know what those are?"

"I can talk about it later. Right now," Hapu glared at Sunshine, "we have a threat on our hands, one strong enough to brush aside a Tapu and…"

They heard Marisa's broom pull up on the other side of the room. "I can explain everything," she said. She walked up to Sunshine. "I saw her tailin' Reimu out of the party and went to go see what was up. And, well," she looked at Tapu Fini, "I guess it's obvious."

Sunshine looked at Hapu. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean any harm. I just… saw Reimu coming after you, and I wanted to see why. I felt a lot of energy coming from this place, so I came in to see the source. Then it attacked me, and I just needed to defend myself."

Hapu examined Sunshine. She was a very special girl, all right. She obviously possessed a huge amount of power, enough for a Tapu to deem her a threat and attack. "But Tapu Fini was so quick to attack you. Why?"

"Like I said, I can explain it. Sorta." She took Sunshine by her shoulders, and stood side-by-side with Reimu.

"I can help explain this, too," Reimu explained. "We were talking about it earlier."

"Here's the short version," Marisa said. "Sunshine is a Necrozma."

Hapu was greatly surprised. "...N-Necrozma?" she uttered fearfully.

"Eh… not exactly," Marisa clarified. "_ A _Necrozma. Not the one that banished the prince, but an entirely new one created from one of Alice's dolls."

"Here's how it all happened, according to them," Reimu said. "Alice is Marisa's friend and a fellow magician. Her specialty is creating animate dolls which assist her in chores, magical experiments, and combat. She also, for a long time, wanted to create a 'thinking doll' which possess an actual genius."

She took a deep breath, then continued, "Necrozma, unknown to us, had been living in Gensokyo for a very long time, disguised as a 'darkness youkai' named 'Rumia.' For reasons we don't fully understand, it inserted a rudimentary genius into one such doll, which gained sentience over time. Eventually, Alice and Marisa made the decision to move her into a bigger doll body, the one you see here." Sunshine reached into her bag and pulled out a small, tattered, wooden doll with a yellow dress similar to hers and missing an arm - her original body.

"Yeah, and then, sometime after that, she found Diancie, also dropped there outta nowhere, which led us to Xerneas, who then filled her with energy and turned her into a real kid - or, well, she looks human, but is actually a Necrozma, with all of Necrozma's power to boot."

Diancie? Xerneas? As in, Kalos legendaries?

"I'm sorry, this is getting a little hard to follow," Hapu commented.

"I know, right?" Marisa said.

Hapu continued, "but… I think I get what you're telling me, that Sunshine is a second Necrozma created by the original." She thought for a moment, then said, "that must be why Tapu Fini attacked her. It thought she was the original Necrozma, and that she had malicious intent. But she was simply curious about what was going on here."

Sunshine walked over to Tapu Fini, along with Reimu. "I didn't mean to hurt you," she said softly. "I was just scared, and my Pokemon was scared for me, too."

Reimu readied a Max Potion to heal Tapu Fini's wounds, but before she did she asked it, "you won't try to hurt Sunshine again when I do this, will you?" The weakened Tapu nodded. Satisfied that it was sincere, she applied the potion, giving the guardian enough power to get back up and stare quietly ahead, before spinning around and singing a short song. Pink mist blew out in all directions around it, becalming and energizing everyone it touched. Reimu, for instance, felt as though all the crap, all the stiff joints and sore muscles in her body were flushed out at once, leaving her limber, purified and overall slightly less cranky than usual. Slightly.

Once the mist dissipated, Reimu took a deep breath, and even though the air inside the ruins was the same stuffy air she was breathing before, even it felt cleaner by being exposed to the mist. She then looked around, and saw Marisa holding a glass bottle containing the mist with a large cork on it.

"I gotta mess around with _this _stuff when I get back," she gloated. "Imagine what kinda drugs and potions I could make with it!"

...well, she was a witch, it was only natural that she'd want to fiddle around with magical substances to either copy them, improve them, or use them as ingredients for other magical mishaps. Reimu was more curious about where she got the bottle out from so fast to collect the mist.

Dismissing it, she cleared her throat and turned back to Hapu. "So, that's Tapu Fini's ability."

"Indeed," Hapu noted. "It was grateful that you healed it, so it returned the favor. It would seem you have earned the favor of all the Tapu at this point."

All of the Tapu… even the one on Gensokyo which may or may not have been the Great Dragon. Reimu had the favor and approval of all of them. She, a complete outsider who wasn't even from the Pokemon world, let alone Alola, and yet all of them saw _something _in her that set her apart from regular trainers in their eyes. The way in which her battling and incident-resolving skills translated to solving this incident must have impressed upon them such that they felt compelled to support her in any way that they could and keep her out of harm's way until her mission was complete.

It was easier to figure out why the mystery Tapu (or Tapu Mo'o, as Rotom had christened it) supported her, if indeed it was the Great Dragon: it simply wanted her to fix the trainwreck that Necrozma had created by ripping Gensokyo from one realm and dumping it in another and knew she had the ability and a plan to do it. But it was less clear for the other four who were otherwise said to be very finicky and not always helpful, behavior which Reimu never really personally saw. Heck, Tapu Koko didn't hesitate to rescue her from falling to her death, and even dropped her a Sparkling Stone. Tapu Lele was a bit of a troll, but was still willing to literally get in her face on friendly terms. Tapu Bulu was grateful to see her, especially since she and the others fought against the Sphere Doomer that scourged it but still let it land the killing blow. And now Tapu Fini… just what was it about her that made her attractive to them?

...shaking her head, she asked Hapu her next question. "Anyway, what me and I guess the rest of us wanted to know is what you were doing here?"

Hapu held up her Sparkling Stone and told them, "I have received Tapu Fini's blessing. I am now the Island Kahuna. Now I can continue my grandfather's legacy."

Oh, right, she did mention wanting to do that, huh?

Reimu was impressed. "Well, uh… congratulations, I guess. But, you said earlier to literally everyone you wanted to do that. Why'd you have to sneak out of the party?"

"I just didn't want to create a commotion with all the people at the ranch," Hapu replied. "I guess I didn't do a very good job, ehehehehe…"

"There's not much you can get past a Hakurei Shrine maiden," Reimu remarked. "I patrol the skies of Gensokyo daily looking for incidents to quash."

"And then you go back to the shrine and nap the rest of the day," Marisa snarked.

"Oh, har har, like you're any better," Reimu retorted. "Sometimes when you stay at the shrine, I have to drag you outside and beat you like a rug to get you up and cleaned off."

Hapu chuckled. "You two seem like you have an interesting relationship."

"You could say that," Reimu said. "But if you think _we're _characters, you should see some of the insanity that goes on in Gensokyo on a daily basis. We have this saying, 'there is no common sense in Gensokyo.'"

"Well, maybe if I have the opportunity I will go see for myself," Hapu joked.

Reimu thought for a moment, then asked, "oh, I have just one more thing to ask you. How did you know Sunshine's Kartana was an Ultra Beast?"

"...oh, that," Hapu said. "I've known Gladion for a while, he told me all about them. I didn't really understand what they were very much, other than that they were extradimensional beasts and also threats. I would ask why Sunshine has one, but if she also has a Diancie than I don't think it really matters."

"Yeah, I agree," Marisa said. "This whole incident is makin' my head hurt."

"We should probably head back," Reimu said. "It's getting dark out and we need to be up early tomorrow." Hapu agreed, so all of them bid goodbye to Tapu Fini and left the ruins.

Outside, Hapu hopped back up on Mudsdale and rode back. Reimu, seeing the fog, felt that flying back on a Charizard would be wiser.

"Alright," Marisa said, "you do that, me and Sunshine'll just -"

"No, you'll also be flying on a Charizard," Reimu sternly said shoving a Ride Pager into her hands.

"Eh?"

"Just scroll through and find Charizard. You already know how to fly, so it shouldn't be too hard for you to figure out." Reimu used her Ride Pager to dial a Charizard, which within moments could be heard roaring as it cut through the fog and landed right next to her. Getting on, she gestured to Marisa to do the same.

Holding up the Ride Pager, Marisa was more than a little befuddled as to how to operate a touchscreen device, her only experience with one being Sumireko using her phone to fire danmaku. "Uhhh… how do 'ya use this thing?"

"Like this," Sunshine said reached up, scrolled down to Charizard Glide, and hit the button, and in an instant a Charizard - a shiny, for whatever reason - materialized in front of them, saddle on and ready to carry her back to the ranch.

"Alright, now get on!" Reimu ordered. Hesitantly, Marisa got on the saddle, pulled on the reigns, and watched as Reimu ordered the Charizard up into the air.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot, ze," she said. "HUP!" And the Charizard lifted straight up into the air, its wings flapping so hard it blew dust in all directions, and shot through the fog at high speed.

"WAAAAH!" Marisa yelled as Charizard sped through the air, catching up to Reimu's and rising up above the fog, where the moonlight illuminated the sea beyond and it seemed as though they were above the clouds. Marisa wrestled with how to control the beast she was riding until her broom-riding skills eventually kicked in and allowed her to find a way to gain control and fly naturally.

The two girls flew side-by-side, under the moon and stars, on the backs of two dragons, a scene straight out of a fantasy novel. "This is just like old times," Reimu said. "Flying together shooting laser bullets at hordes of fairies trying to kill us."

"There ain't no lasers, but I agree!" Marisa had to really shout over the wind blowing in her face. "We're riding goddamn dragons! This is awesome!" A few moments later, a Braviary riding wind currents flew up alongside them, flying loops, rolls and flips around them before diving down toward the ground - as it turned out, the location of the ranch. So the two dove down with it, landing just outside the ranch gate.

Touching down on the ground and recalling the Charizards, both witch and miko strolled back into the yard, where a fire was burning in a pit and the remaining group was exchanging ghost stories over roasted marshmallows. Not wanting to miss out, the two grabbed the nearest poles and stuck white, fluffy sugar balls onto them. But as they did, Reimu remembered something.

"That reminds me… where's Sunshine?"

"Right here," Sunshine said coming out of the house carrying a stack of graham crackers and chocolate bars.

Marisa jumped back. "I-I didn't even lift ya onto the Charizard! How'd you beat us here?!"

Sunshine wagged a finger. "Don't you know? I can twist light as much as I want. Reimu said I couldn't fly unassisted. But she didn't say I couldn't disguise myself as a Pokemon that could fly."

…

Marisa rubbed Sunshine's head. "Heh, I gotta admit, that was a neat trick! You're getting better, squirt!"

"I'll agree, it was very clever," Reimu noted. Of course, at this point, she shouldn't have been surprised by Sunshine's abilities, which seemingly grew by the day. Bending light to create illusions, like Sunny Milk but even more capable. And her powerful psychokinetic capabilities… just how much power did she wield?

Well, hopefully the answer to that question would become clear tomorrow, when they ventured up to the Altar of the Sunne to set in motion what she hoped would be the incident's endgame. For now, she just mingled into the campfire stories, and shared good times with everyone there, both friend and… weirdo. For she knew that tomorrow would be a very trying day for everyone, and she kept her word about making sure everyone was in bed early (although fortunately getting Yukari to go to bed wasn't too hard. Getting her up on the other hand…).

After ensuring everyone else was put away, Reimu ultimately found herself collapsing on the couch once again. Dozing off, she thought about her experience in Alola thus far: all the experiences she had, from surfing on a Manitine to taking part in a high-speed futuristic race to downhill skiing, facing monsters, both Totem and Doomer, all the friends she made, the fame she accrued, all the sights around these wonderful islands she had taken in. She felt very torn about the prospect of leaving it all behind for the sake of returning everything back to how it was, and she almost didn't want to.

She also thought about how, even without her shrine maiden powers, she was able to not only survive here, but also grow and thrive. In the end, she realized she had put it best: she wouldn't have used her powers even if they were available, as she proved she didn't need them. And the kami of the shrine obviously felt the same way: it wanted to see her push her boundaries before granting her powers back, and for her to prove that it was the person, not the powers, that mattered.

Smiling, she drifted off, with nothing left to do but await the day of judgement ahead of all of them.


	44. Grand Doomer

As the sun rose above the rippling surface of the ocean, its red and orange rays shot across the water, right toward the eastern shore of Poni Island. Licking and tickling the side of the ranch house, the light crept into the living room, where Reimu, still snoring away, lay flopped out across the leather couch.

As the snot bubble grew and shrunk, as the z's floated and popped, as the log was sawed, the _tap-tap-tap _of two pairs of feet pranced across the wooden floor, right toward the couch where Reimu lay.

"Up! Up!"

"Get up!"

Hoisting Reimu up off onto her feet, the two dancers, Satano and Mai, happily marched her into the bathroom, where they fixed up her hair, brushed her teeth, and helped her into a clean set of clothes from her bag, all the while mixing dancing into their movements in an attempt to rouse her physical and mental vitality out of the pit of slumber.

The dancers then guided the barely-awake shrine maiden into the kitchen. As they got closer, a delicious smell wafted through the air and into her nose, perking her up more and helping steer her toward its source. It took the smell of brewing coffee and tea entering her nostrils for her to become fully lucid, and looking around, a number of familiar faces greeted her.

Hau turned to greet her. "Hey there!" All the others just smiled and waved. Reimu got a good look at the food that Hapu recruited Hau, Lillie and Elio to help make: biscuits and gravy, sausage links, waffles, scrambled eggs, an assortment of fruits, berries and veggies, and even traditional Japanese gohen on Yukari's suggestion and direction.

A smile grew across Reimu's face, seeing all these people who cared about her enough to not only accompany her on this mission, but also make this delicious breakfast.

"...hey," she smiled and waved.

Over breakfast, the group shared some more stories, such as more anecdotes from Gensokyo (including one incident where someone - to this day, no one would fess up to it - spiked the alcohol at a party with a love potion), or one time back when Elio was a child when he and Selene were visiting Goldenrod shortly after Team Rocket took over the radio tower. Ran and Chen both were under the table licking up scraps (they really were animals, after all), and Reimu had also let Wakasagehime outside to go hunt for a bit while they were eating. The golden sun beamed into the kitchen as the group enjoyed their breakfast, with all of them knowing what awaited them that day.

Hapu's grandmother wanted to make sure everyone was covered for lunch as well, and handed everyone a sack lunch with sandwiches and whatnot, and even some extra food and Pokebeans for their Pokemon. All of them waved goodbye to her and the ranch hands as they left, the day still young and small bird Pokemon flapping through the air, singing a joyful chorus.

* * *

It didn't take very long to reach the mouth of the canyon, a hulking gate of rainbow rock with wind blowing down out of the gorges behind it. It actually whipped the hair and dresses of everyone there. And just ahead, Reimu could already see trouble.

"What are those guys?" Marisa asked pointing.

"Team Skull grunts," she said. There were about five or so squatting down blocking the entrance to the canyon. "They're not much of a threat, so I'm surprised they're not running away from a huge group like this, led by me no less." She went out ahead of the group. "I'll go handle this, you guys just hang back."

_Man, she's really straightforward, _Marisa thought. Elio was similarly impressed, seeing her just march right up to a group of grunts like they were nothing more than some trash that needed to get swept up.

Approaching the grunts, Reimu told them, "alright, boys, after everything that's happened, it seems you still don't understand what happens when you get in my way."

"You're makin' a big mistake if you think were just some ordinary grunts, 'yo!" one of them boasted.

"Oh?" Reimu asked skeptically. "What does that mean? That you have some actual Pokemon to fight with as opposed to cannon fodder scrubs?"

All of them got up and did their dance, before shouting, "check this out!" They sent out their Pokeballs, and out came two Gumshoos, two Raticates, and an out-of-place Hatterene. Reimu facepalmed and sighed, knowing this would be yet another slaughter on her trail of destruction. So, sending out Lucario, she snarked, "oh my, how threatening, I'm _really _scared." She pointed and commanded, "Lucario, show these losers the business so we can get this over with…"

"Leave them alone," came a voice from the side. Reimu looked over, and saw Plumeria squatting atop a large rock next to the path. She jumped down and walked over to the shrine maiden. Waving her and at the grunts, she commanded, "recall all your Pokemon. I need to speak with her." Silent, the grunts did as asked and recalled all of their Pokemon before stepping aside.

"So, we meet again," Reimu greeted. "What is it? You want a piece of action as well?"

"No," Plumeria answered, "I just wanted to talk to you. I knew you'd probably come here at some point, so I brought a few grunts with me here a couple days ago. We haven't been interrogated by the investigators, although I heard most of them were released or got off with minor drug charges."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Reimu sternly asked. "Are you trying to scare me?"

"Not at all," Plumeria dismissed. "I'm not here to fight. Instead… I just thought I needed to tell you everything. In light of everything that has happened so far." She turned to face the group, took a deep breath, then spoke.

"There's a reason they call me the 'mom' of Team Skull. Most of these kids are all runaways, dropouts, and other misfits, a lot of them came from broken homes and backgrounds. Not me. I might not look like it, but I grew up in a wealthy house, my dad is a tour operator, my mom a psychologist. Back when I was going to school, I used to pass by Team Skull Grunts all the time, and I would even use them as practice for my Pokemon because they were so weak. But then I was visiting Ula'Ula one day on my Island Challenge, and saw the conditions they live in at Po Town. I also heard some of their stories, and what drove them to join Team Skull in the first place. They just wanted a place where they would be accepted despite their failures. And you know, I have a pretty big heart and I just couldn't bear to see them living aimlessly like this. So I joined as a way to look over them, try to help and guide them, take care of them… just try to give them a better life, you know? Of course I earned my parent's scorn for doing so, but you know what? If joining them is what I have to do to make sure these guys and girls don't self destruct, then so be it. Drug use has gone down since I joined, mostly because I've been very strict about helping them get off them."

Reimu crossed her arms and nodded. "So basically, you sacrificed your own comfortable, silver spoon-fed life to bring light to the lives of these kids?"

"Yes," Plumeria said.

Reimu was silent for a moment, before telling her, "you know, you're a bigger heart and a better person than I could ever hope to be."

"You really think so?" Plumeria asked. "Because you seem like you'll go to far lengths to protect not just the ones you love, but even people you don't know. I've heard about all the incidents you've been involved in, I certainly wouldn't be able to do those things. And now look: your home has apparently been dropped right here in Alola and you're trying to get it all back to where it comes from."

Reimu looked down. "True… but I possess powers bestowed upon me, both by my lineage and the shrine. I would be little more than a normal girl against all those demons and goddesses without them. Not only that, but as a member of the Hakurei line of shrine maidens, it is my sworn duty to keep the balance of Gensokyo and protect it from all sorts of threats. Nothing compelled you to give up your way of life to take care of these grunts. You could have ignored them and walked away from the problem if you wanted to. Instead you chose to walk the hard path to lead them down the path of light."

"That is true," Plumeria conceded. "Nothing is making me do it other than my own heart. And it sounds like you have a pretty weighty duty on your shoulders, keeping Gensokyo's order… but what about here? Alola, I mean? You seem like you care a lot about this place, even though you have no reason to. You just happened to end up here, and you said you were working on trying to get home. If that's all you were trying to do… then why would you set out on the Island Challenge?"

Reimu kicked her foot around a bit, saying, "I just thought it would be a good way to go around finding clues."

"Alright," Plumeria said, "but then, you also chose to dress like a local."

"To fit in," Reimu responded.

"And that's not all… you've gone out of your way to save Nebby from trouble, not just at the meadow but also when you saved that other Cosmog, which you have with you, from those strange birds at the volcano. You went to Aether Paradise, knowing you'd be diving right into a hornet's nest, to try and get Nebby back, and not only that but you helped Lillie steel herself to go back when she didn't want to. Heck, part of why you're on this mission is to save Nebby, once again, except this time from Necrozma. And it's not just Nebby; on Ula'Ula, you almost fell to your death while trying to fix the snowstorm covering the island." She paused, then said, "that means you were willing to die to save the lives of people and Pokemon you didn't know."

"Er, well, we just happened to…"

"When you confronted Guzma, you had every reason to scorn him for stealing a kid's Yungoos, but instead you challenged him to overcome his issues and become a better person. You helped a skittish Mimikyu find the strength and confidence to become a Totem Pokemon. You were quick to assist many, many injured Pokemon that tried to attack you, like that Totem Lurantis that was near-fatally poisoned or even Tapu Fini yesterday. Heck, you even helped Tapu Bulu defeat the thing causing the snowstorm and let it land the finishing hit. You've done a lot of things that you didn't have to, as if they were out of habit. The way you battle and the way you train your Pokemon, how you're a master at surfing, racing, skiing... I mean, look at how many people you've inspired. And," she looked at Lillie, Hau, Elio, and Zinnia, "look at the friends you've made along the way. No, I think that _you're _a better person than _I _could ever hope to be. You might think you're just a lazy, cranky person, but deep down, you care for everyone and everything around you, you keep your head up against overwhelming odds, and you will go out of your way to help people sort out their issues even when you have so much more on your hands." She put her hands to her sides. "Five-hundred years ago, prince Kamehameha set out on a quest around the islands, came here, and was given a mission by Solgaleo and Lunala to unite the islands and strike down Necrozma. Now, you're retracing his steps to do the same thing, but the stakes are even higher. It might not be much, but I do want to give you all something to help you out." She reached into her bag, got out a bunch of Poisonium-Z's, and flipped one each to Reimu, Lillie and Hau.

As Reimu caught hers, she looked at her and said, "...you know, as I went from one island to the next, I did start to feel close to this place. Your world is a lot better world than the one I come from. And," she looked down, clearly saddened, "I can't really bring myself to leave this world behind, even though I know I have to because it's right. Once we confront Necrozma… first off, I'm still not certain any of us are going to make it out alive, given that it can strike down the Great Dragon and all. But if we do, and it sets everything back to how it was as I will ensure it will do, then I won't be able to come back. That means I won't be able to see Lillie and Hau again." She paused, and a tear could be seen going down her face. "And since Marisa is from here, I'll have to leave her behind as well. Not just me, but also Alice and Sunshine. Solving incidents just won't be the same without her can-do attitude, and as much as I hate to say it, I'm going to miss her crashing at my place and getting into all sorts of mishaps." She started to sniffle and turned away from the group so the wouldn't see her.

Then, she felt a pat on her back.

"Eh, don't worry about it," Marisa said. "We're goin' into this knowing we have to open up some Ultra Wormholes. It's like I said on the boat: we'll probably just find some way to make it so we can each still visit every now and then. And knowing Alice, she'll prolly just insist she come with me anyway, if only to make sure I don't get into any trouble. Remember, Necrozma messed everything up to begin with, and we're gonna go kick it's ass right now."

Silence, before sniffling gave way to Reimu trying to keep herself from laughing.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Reimu joked. "You do realize that that would be a boundary violation if we did that, right?"

"Er…"

"I'm kidding, I don't think anyone would really care," Reimu told her. "Knowing your optimism, you'll probably ransom Necrozma into making it possible if you had to, and I wouldn't mind. That's just you being you."

"Well if that's what I gotta do, I'll make it happen. Ain't that right, Sunshine?"

Sunshine looked up and gave a sweet smile. "...yeah."

"That my girl!"

Happy that their resolve had been solidified, Reimu shot a determined glare at the canyon, gathered her strength, and declared, "now then… let's bring it all down to the ground." She marched right into the canyon's maw, and everyone else was compelled to follow her right in. In the distance, the Altar of the Sunne rose above the canyon floor, acting as a beacon and a symbol of everything they each were trying to accomplish. Everyone knew history would be made that day. They just didn't know how.

* * *

The interior of the canyon proved to be just as wild and just as untamed as its outward appearance suggested: thick tree roots bridging across from one ledge to the other, mighty streams pouring down gushing waterfalls out down to the distant ocean, huge volcanic erratics littering the floor, and of course, numerous exotic Pokemon, many of which were rare or even unseen outside the vast, rocky labyrinth. The group were not the only ones trodding through the canyon that day, for the path to the Altar was littered with Ace Trainers, Veterans and other tough trainers looking for rare Pokemon and treasure, as well as grizzled, adventurous backpackers challenging themselves and their Pokemon in braving the relentless conditions. Add to that high winds, winding caves, and a piercing vibe from the foreboding Altar, and you had a rough, tough and wild land which few dared to enter.

But from Reimu's perspective, it was just another day on the clock.

Not far from the canyon entrance was a massive boulder sitting next to a crevice in the ground, which blocked their path. The crevice seemed too wide and too deep to jump over safely.

Looking at the boulder, Reimu thought, _if only we could push that thing into the crack… _aha!

"Hey Hapu," she said, "yesterday I saw you use a Ride Pager to summon a Machamp to push that block around. You think we could do the same thing here?"

"Absolutely," Hapu answered. "Can I see your pager? You might not have it on yours yet, it's fairly new." So Reimu handed her Ride Pager, and Hapu added Machamp Shove to it. Upon request, she also added it to everyone else's pagers, and pretty soon, there were a total of five Machamps out ready to push the boulder aside.

"Does it gotta hold me like a bride?" Marisa complained.

"I think you make a good bride," Reimu snarked.

"H-HEY!" Marisa yelled. "...DUMMY!" Everyone got a good laugh at Marisa's blushing, before directing the Machamps over to one side of the boulder, with three pushing and two lifting it up from the bottom in order to get the rock out of the ground. It took wrenching it a couple of times, but soon, the rock, which was the size of a house and weight several tons, was slowly unearthed, lifted up on one side, and rolled over. Once fully unearthed and on its tip, the rock reached thirty feet into the air, forcing the spectators to step back for safety as they watched. The bottom side of the rock was dotted with jade olivine beads, which sparkled in the sunlight that hadn't hit them in centuries. It took flipping the rock over a couple more times before…

"Heave…. HO!" Reimu yelled. All at once, the line of Machamps pushed the rock into the crevice, where it hit the ground with earthquake-like force and echoed several miles up the canyon, causing many bird Pokemon to scatter into the air and dust to erupt and spread across the surface.

Once the dust settled, Hapu clapped, "well done! That was very impressive! You were a very good team to be able to get that giant rock into the hole!"

Everyone sent the Machamps back, and Hau looked at the boulder in the ground. "Daaaaaaaaang," he expressed. "Machamps sure are strong!"

"It's the muscles," Elio said swinging his arms around. "I've seen them punch holes through solid metal doors. Did you know they can throw as many as a thousand punches in a second?"

"I think I've seen oni punch that fast," Reimu remarked. "Suika could probably bench lift that boulder all by herself. Hell, I bet she could hold it with one hand, seeing as how she can rip mountains apart if she really wanted to. Did I mention she looks like a scrawny young teen?"

"Sounds intense," Elio remarked.

"**_Oh, and don't ever accept her challenge to a drinking contest unless you like liver failure_**," Reimu warned them.

"You sound really adamant about that," Hapu noted.

"Trust me, I've seen smart people fall for it, not knowing that she has literally infinite tolerance and gets stronger the drunker she gets. It's lucky her aim is worse than Horn Drill's, otherwise she could probably punch you to the moon. Even Protect won't save you from it."

"Sounds like an idea for a Z-Move!" Elio said excitedly. "Drunk-Girl Punch!"

Crickets.

As they ventured further into the canyon, they inevitably got split up, which no one was really worried about happening since they knew the canyon narrowed into the Totem's Den and the path to the Altar anyway. Marisa had Sunshine, Yukari was most likely just floating to the end, Hapu and Zinnia went down another path with each other. This left a group consisting of Reimu herself, Lillie and Hau again, with Elio and the dancers following close behind. Along the path they chose were lots of caves, which meant having to swat Zubat out of the way constantly, not to mention dealing with the many experienced trainers, many of which used Pokemon that Reimu had not yet seen in person such as Sigilyph, Tyranitar, Blaziken, Flapple and Hippowdon. These trainers were from all over the world, yet all of them had heard of Reimu's exploits and were honored to battle her even if they lost.

At one point, the group came across a green-haired Ace Trainer, who instantly recognized them.

"You're Reimu Hakurei, aren't you?" she asked.

"The one and only," she said blankly. "Ready to lose?" she taunted.

"As if," the Ace Trainer retorted. "I had the opportunity to visit that island that appeared suddenly a few days ago. I'm told that's your home? Totally crazy. Anyway, I found something interesting there, and I wanted to test it out."

Reimu tipped her hat. "Well, let's do it then. Show me what you got!"

The Ace Trainer turned out to have two Pokemon, the first was one that Hoennese Ace Trainers like her often carried, that being a Gardevoir which a single Flash Cannon from Lucario downed. The second one, however, came as a massive surprise: a small doll-like creature, dressed like a wizard and wielding a stick like a wand.

Reimu pointed at it aghast. "Is… is that a Wisdoll?! Like Ichigo?!"

"Oh… so you know this one?" she smirked. "I just found it roaming wild in a flower patch. Almost got run over by this insane green-haired lady with a parasol while catching it. It might not look like much, but I can teach it almost anything! Observe!" It threw out a Focus Blast, forcing Lucario to dodge and retaliate with Flash Cannon. The attack, although it hit, wasn't quite enough to knock it out, giving it the ability to retaliate with Moonblast. Lucario intercepted the attack with Aura Sphere, dashed around the cave, then landed atop Wisdoll and stomped it into the ground to beat it.

Recalling Lucario, Reimu told the Ace Trainer, "lots of moves don't mean much if it can't fight well. I suggest you train it more if you want it to become more capable." She paused, then said, "and yeah, Yuuka is usually like that. I'm surprised you actually got out of there with your life."

* * *

A while later, the group was faced with a natural stone bridge, spanning across a ravine. Flying overhead, a small flock of Murkrow circled above looking for easy pickings.

Crowding at the ledge, Reimu looked up, looked at Lillie, and told her, "you know, this is just like that day when I first fell here, when you were trying to save Nebby who was stranded out on that old wood bridge surrounded by Spearow."

Lillie looked across the bridge, and at the Murkrow. "Yeah. Hard to believe that was only a couple of weeks ago," she remarked. "Ever since you came here, it's just been an absolute whirlwind of change. Back then, I had no Pokemon of my own, and I was so timid I couldn't even run up to a bunch of little Spearow." She looked across the bridge with determination, then turned around and spat. "Like hell I'm scared of any little birds anymore."

Reimu giggled. "Heh. You really _are _Marisa's sister, aren't you?"

Lillie didn't even respond. Instead, she took a step, and began walking across the bridge, as if it were nothing. The Murkrow above her took notice and dived down to attack her. "Caw, caw, murrr-caw!" they called out, ready to attack this seemingly hapless person.

Lillie only shot a casual yet evil glare as she sent Adele out to show them the business. You could hear brakes as the Murkrow hurriedly stopped their dive, visibly panicked as they saw the Grim Reaper in front of them ready to throw down, and scattered in all directions down either side of the canyon.

"...ah dear," Lillie casually said. "It seems I scarred the little guys for life." She recalled Adele and continued her stroll across the bridge.

Over on the ledge, Reimu, Hau and Elio could only look on as Lillie, who only recently was a timid yet caring girl, now seemingly just channeled Yukari of all people. _It's only been a couple of days _, Reimu thought, _and she's already rubbing off on her? _

Once Lillie reached the other side, she turned around and asked them, "...you all coming?"

"Oh, right!" Reimu said. She then walked across the bridge, followed closely by the dancers, then Elio, then Hau in the back, the canyon breeze blowing gently on them as they crossed, and a gurgling stream surrounded by a wetland populated with fish and opportunistic hunters like Dragonair.

* * *

Some time later, the group was walking alongside a small lake at the floor of the canyon, when all of a sudden, there was a loud rumbling sound.

Reimu jolted and held out a Pokeball. "What was that?" she exclaimed. The rumble was heard again, coming from Hau's direction. Focusing in and pinpointing the source, Reimu realized that the sound was coming from Hau himself.

Hau looked down, heard the rumbling, then looked up at the girls. "I think I'm hungry," he cheekily said.

Lillie felt a small gurgle in her belly as well. "You know, I'm feeling a little peckish myself," she smiled.

Elio looked at his phone and saw that it was midday. "Why don't we take lunch here?"

"Lunch! Eat! Energy!" The dancers were as agreeable as ever, it seemed.

"Eh, I guess," Reimu shrugged. "According to the map, we're about two-thirds of the way there, we should be there fairly soon." Settling down on the side of the lake under a palm tree. Taking out their sack lunches, they found the sandwiches made by Hapu's grandma, some cut-up veggies, an apple and a cookie. It was pretty basic, but sometimes basic was best. Satano and Mai both whipped out bento boxes from nowhere, no doubt provided by their master.

Elio took a look at his map. "So, two-thirds you said?"

"Looks like it," Reimu answered. "And it looks like it should be easy to get most of the rest of the way on the backs of Tauros or Mudsdale, so we won't have to worry about making it there in time as long as we make lunch short."

"Hopefully we won't run into too many more trainers," Hau remarked. "At least some of them are letting us past because we know we're here to do something important, and they've also been giving us extra stuff."

Reimu looked at her phone and saw its one-bar reception. It had been five bars at the mouth of the canyon. "It looks like cell reception is dropping out here. So we won't be able to access our boxes for much longer."

"I bet it's not just because of remoteness," Elio pointed out. "That Altar is likely sending out a crazy amount of energy, interfering with everything. They say you can evolve Vikivolt, Magnezone and Probopass out here because of it, and before the power plant was built this canyon was the only place here in Alola that you could do so."

"Interesting," Reimu noted. "Yukari did say that the boundary between this reality and Ultra Space is weak here, and that's why it's unsafe for her to use her powers here. Ultra Radiation and I'm sure other energy must pour out through all those invisible gaps and weaknesses."

"How strong is Yukari?" Elio asked.

"She possesses very nearly omnipotent power," Reimu explained. "Her power is to manipulate boundaries. That might not sound like much, but the term 'boundary' can apply to a lot of things: political boundaries, truth and lies, life and death, the fabric of reality itself… she can also use this power to generate 'gaps' to travel between places instantly as much as she likes. The Hakurei Border was her idea, based on a similar barrier the Lunarians have to conceal the Lunar Capital from terrestrial observers. And just to put it into perspective, legend states that she was the first ever youkai, since she's been regarded as the leader of all youkai for quite some time. That's thousands of years. Thousands of years she's been shaping Gensokyo's politics, and it was she who picked my distant ancestor out of a crowd of commoners and deemed her the first Hakurei Shrine maiden. She's watched over the Hakureis ever since."

"Wow," Elio expressed, "I had no idea she was that powerful. When I saw her, I knew she must have been very influential, but damn."

"She's very good at hiding it," Reimu said. "...well, that and she's also reeeeeally lazy, to the point where I have to do most of her work."

Elio thought for a moment, then realized something. "So, if she can manipulate boundaries like that, how come she didn't use those powers to take you home when you first disappeared?"

"Good question, and I think I've known the answer for some time," Reimu said. "As powerful as Yukari is, her powers do still have limits. For one, she wields godlike powers but at the end of the day, she's still just a youkai. That means the same wards and amulets I use to exterminate lesser youkai can seal her powers and even kill her as well. She actually helped set the shrine and the shrine maiden's powers up in such a way that me and my ancestors could do that if ever she went rogue, but because of how important she is to running Gensokyo, I'll never do it unless there are no other options; Yukari is no friend to humans, but she'll never, ever consciously do anything to jeopardize Gensokyo's existence, nor will she commit evil acts for no reason. Her powers also have an upper limit. She can't mess with the spacetime continuum, for example, and larger reality-bending can tax her vitality something horrible. Because of that, accessing Ultra Space is beyond her capabilities. Even if she could do that, this is just one reality out of perhaps infinite realities, and she wouldn't immediately know which one I fell into. She couldn't sense what realm I was in for the same reason. It also sounds like her border-bending powers and Ultra Radiation don't mix, if she thinks doing so here would create unpredictable and explosive results."

Elio sipped some water. "I bet it must have been very stressful for her, not knowing where you went and not being able to help you even with her powers."

"I mean, yeah, she squeezed me like a jelly tube when she saw me again." Reimu trailed off, noticing some rustling in the grass off in one direction. "...hm?"

"What is it?" Elio asked, before he noticed it as well, as did Lillie who looked up from her food to look around, thinking it might be a wild Pokemon.

Then, all of a sudden, Hau jumped up and pointed, "LOOK!" Everyone looked where he was pointing, and the sight was surprising, to say the least: a herd of Jangmo-o, marching through the valley, grazing, catching small animals, and play-fighting with each other. The baby dragons all seemed to be unprotected and vulnerable, but as everyone knew, even the weakest Pokemon could really put up a fight if they needed to, and Hau knew just how fierce they could be.

"Wow," Reimu marvelled. "Aren't they supposed to be really rare?"

"This is the only place in the islands they can be found," Hau said. "I've always wanted one ever since I saw them in a zoo! And now I'm here, where they are, and they're out in the open!" Hau sent out Raichu and readied an empty Pokeball to catch one, when Lillie tugged on his shoulder.

"Hau," she smiled.

"Aw, what is it?" he asked, annoyed.

Lillie pointed upward. "I wouldn't quite say they're all alone." Everyone looked up to where she was pointing, and saw what Lillie was talking about: standing above atop a ledge was an imposing figure, its tail moving left to right and its stare fixated on the herd of Jangmo-o down below. No doubt about it, it was a Kommo-o, watching over the younglings and ensuring no harm came to them.

"Ahaha," Reimu snickered. "Seems as though it won't let anything touch the kids if it can help it. It's looks pretty formidable, _surely_ we don't want to anger it."

Hau put the empty ball down. "Hmph," he grunted. "But I really want one. What am I gonna do, just find one that's all alone or something?"

"I have an idea," Elio suggested. "When they get to a certain age, Jangmo-o go out on training journeys. Maybe you could show how you're a strong trainer, and if you do, you might be able to catch the eye of one of them."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Hau asked.

"Well, how about a quick battle?" Elio said. "I've got more Full Restores and Revives than all of us will need, so we don't have to worry about that."

Hau looked at the Jangmo-o behind him, then turned to Elio, clenching his fist. "Yeah, let's do it!"

The two decided on a 3v3 match. Elio elected not to use Alduin or Dragonite, since he needed them to be healthy just in case they got stuck and needed to get to a safe place quickly. So instead he intentionally led off with something Raichu was strong against, that being his Lapras. The girls propped themselves up atop a rock spire to spectate the fight and provide encouragement.

Hau directed Raichu to use Thunderbolt in order to shock Lapras to oblivion, only to quickly discover that Elio was no rookie trainer. He could order his Lapras to nullify the attack by blasting water over to one side, attracting the electrical current to it and causing it to dissipate into the canyon wall when the water splashed there.

"Oh, come on, don't think I don't know how to counter that," Elio said wagging his finger. "I learned the hard way from dealing with Lt. Surge that I needed to know how to help Lapras cover its weaknesses, so I came up with a way to have it blast water to draw the attack away from it. If you're gonna take down Lapras, you'll have to find some other way!"

Hau was frustrated. Raichu's strongest attack was no good against Lapras, forcing him to come up with another method to beat it. He knew he could just switch Pokemon, but then Elio would likely just switch to something to counter _that _. And he knew Lapras was pretty bulky, so it could take several Psychics to bring it down, something he wasn't willing to do because he was trying to conserve his Pokemon's energy.

...wait, he thought. He taught Raichu Focus Blast at some point, didn't he?

That's right! Lapras was also Ice-type, so using that move could be effective. Normally, using moves of different types than the Pokemon's wasn't as effective, since they weren't as proficient at using them; it would be like a karate master also using tae-kwon-do moves: they could probably use them well, but not as effectively as a specialist. This was especially true if your same-type attacks could also hit super-effectively. But in this case, it was either that or doing no damage.

"Raichu, use Focus Blast!" he directed. And just as asked, Raichu conjured a blue-and-orange energy ball above its head, then did a flip as it fired it at Lapras. Hau looked up to see if the attack hit, only to see Lapras's eyes flash blue as it caught the attack with Psychic and deflected it.

"Nice try," Elio said again, "but Focus Blast is predictable enough that deflecting it is easy. Looks like you'll have to come up with some other way to beat it." He then directed Lapras to attack with Ice Beam, which Raichu narrowly dodged knowing that being hit by it could turn it into a popsicle.

"Hah." Hau _was _now very frustrated. At this point, he was just having Raichu deflect and avoid attacks because he couldn't figure out how to hit Lapras. Trying to hit it super-effectively wasn't working, since it could just parry anything sent at it. How was he supposed to beat it at this point?

…

Then it dawned on him. Elio was using out-the-box tactics, so what if Hau did the same?

Hau came up with a quick plan. He directed Raichu to use Focus Blast again, then directed it to also immediately use Thunderbolt right behind it. Now, with two attacks coming at it, and unable to counter both, Lapras was forced between a rock and a hard place. The resulting indecision meant that _both _attacks hit, knocking it out cleanly.

"W-wha?" Elio exclaimed in surprise.

"Guess Lapras can't counter two attacks at once," Hau bragged.

Elio regained his composure, and smirked. "Well done. But if that's the game you're gonna play, guess that means I'll have to step up mine as well!" He recalled Lapras and replaced it with a Tauros. And Hau thought, _what better way to fight a Tauros than with my own? _So he praised Raichu, then swapped it out with his Tauros. What happened next was predictable, as the two rival Tauros charged each other and locked horns, each one trying to push the other into the lake which surrounded them on both sides.

As the battle wore on, one of the Jangmo-o looked up from grazing to observe the fight. It was impressed with how Hau had managed to outsmart Lapras's strategy by simply overwhelming it, and now with how Hau was essentially playing the part of a matador when Hau decided to replace Tauros with Hedwig, who even started using her wings like a capote to get Elio's Tauros to smash into the rock wall, after which she slashed at it with Leaf Blade. Elio's response to that when Tauros was knocked out was to have his Victrebel go after her with its vines and poison. The resulting scuffle could only be described as a slog; Hedwig eventually went down, but Victrebel was so drained from fighting her that one Ice Hammer from Crabominable was enough to finish it. Seeing that last blow was enough to convince it that Hau was a tough trainer, and that if it joined him and his Pokemon then surely it would become stronger.

"Heh," Elio huffed slumping over. "I have to admit, you're just as tough as your grandpa."

Hau flashed a wicked smile and pointed at him. "That's what you get for messing with me!" Everyone then broke out laughing. "I'm kidding," Hau said. "But that was a pretty good match! I wonder if -"

He felt something butt up against his leg, and when he turned to see what it was, he saw the little Jangmo-o, recognizing his prowess and looking at him longingly, as if to say "let me join you plz."

Hau smiled and crouched down to his level, holding out a ball. "Well, hi there! I guess you wanna join my team?" The Jangmo-o eagerly nodded yes, and with one flick of the Ultra Ball, it went inside, shook a couple times, and clicked.

Hau then held up the ball triumphantly, shouting, "yeah! I finally did it! I caught one!" He opened his eyes, and looked up at the Kommo-o watching over the herd, half expecting it to do something now that the Jangmo-o was captured.

A few tense moments passed, before it visibly crossed its arms and seemingly gave a nod of approval, before jumping up into the air toward the center of the canyon, leaving behind it a telltale trail of radiation.

"Ohohoho…" Reimu remarked jumping down from the rock spire. "Looks like it wasn't just any Kommo-o, but it was the Totem Pokemon as well! Guess it would have been _really _bad to anger it in that case, at least before the Trial."

"Who knows," Elio said. "Maybe it was testing us."

"Maybe," Reimu replied.

In a flash, Rotom came out of the bag and registered Jangmo-o, in the process identifying it as a female. Hau wondered to himself what he was going to name it in light of finding that out.

"Gosh," Hau said crouching down. "I named Hedwig, but other than that I suck at coming up with girl names."

Reimu thought about how Kommo-o were warrior dragons who primarily fought with their fists… similar to someone she knew, before she turned into Rayquaza.

"How about… Meiling?" Reimu suggested.

"Meiling?"

"Meiling was the gardener of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, before she turned into a dragon. She was also the gatekeeper, and very good at martial arts. I'm sure your Jangmo-o will grow into a powerful fighter just like her!"

Hau thought about it for a second. He wasn't really sure what to make of it, but at a loss for other names he decided to just roll with it.

"Alright," he chirped, "Meiling it is!"

"Nice!" Reimu said clapping. "Now let's just hope those scales are strong enough to repel knives!"

"...eh?" Hau wondered.

"Oh, nothing, it's just a bad joke. You wouldn't get it." Reimu, of course, was talking about that time Sakuya got drunk and got into a fight with Meiling when she caught her napping outside, which ended when she stuck a knife through her hat. This only happened once and their relationship was otherwise amicable, but ever since then people joked that Sakuya knifed Meiling whenever the latter slacked off, something which neither of them were every really able to live down.

* * *

After lunch, they wasted no time continuing up the canyon, along the way meeting more trainers, more obstacles which needed Machamp to shove and Tauros to break, rough ground for Mudsdale to carry them over, and even stranger Pokemon and plants which dwelled in the canyon depths. Two hours later, they finally caught sight of the light at the end of the tunnel: the large, faded Trial arch adjoining the entrance to the Totem's Den, beyond which the Altar of the Sunne, now dominating the skyline, lay. A thick ramp of roots and vines led down from the cave they had just exited down to where the Totem's Den was.

"Alright," said Reimu. "Just a little further, everyone. We're so close!"

"Yeah! We're really close!" Hau shouted. And so they skipped, scampered and slid down the wild roots down to ground level. As they descended down to the canyon floor to the Totem's Den, Reimu spotted a single person blocking the path ahead of them, which Reimu assumed to just be another trainer to quash before going through the Totem and reaching her long-awaited goal.

As they reached the bottom, Marisa and Sunshine caught up with them from a cave on the right side. Moments later, Hapu and Zinnia pulled up on Mudsdales from the left, and Yukari simply floated down on her parasol.

"Impeccable timing," Reimu said. "Everyone's here all at once." Looking at the girl ahead of them, she added, "and it looks like we have yet one more obstacle to get through."

"Hey," the girl said sauntering up to them. "Took you all long enough to get here. My name's Mina. I'm a Trial Captain."

Reimu was suspicious of her claim, given that she was wearing ripped jeans, a large white shirt smeared with paint, and also that she looked like a stoner with her blank expression and _blase_ attitude. "Oh, right. Then I'm assuming this is your trial?"

Mina looked behind herself, and said, "no, it's not my trial."

"...huh?" Reimu was confused.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I just became a Trail Captain yesterday. Hapu called me up and asked me if I wanted to be one and I said 'sure.' I don't even have a Totem Pokemon yet, much less a trial."

"It's true," Hapu chuckled. "We've known each other for a while, and she wanted to be a Trial Captain after she completed her Island Challenge, but there wasn't a Kahuna to do it. Now that I'm a Kahuna, I can nominate Trial Captains, and she was the first person I thought of. I told her we were coming here before we left this morning, and to meet us right here in front of the Totem's den."

"But I don't want to run a Dragon trial," Mina lazily said. "Besides, the Pokemon in there run it just fine without one."

"There's no Trial Captain?" Reimu asked.

"There's never been one," Mina added. "The Jangmo-o, Hakamo-o and Kommo-o in this canyon just kinda came up with their own trial here, and they also guard the Altar of the Sunne over there. It used to be a trial site for something else, but it was abandoned and they just occupied it later."

"Interesting," Reimu thought. "I've always wondered exactly how lucid and sentient Pokemon are, since they seem to be all over the place from just wild animals to that talking Meowth back in Seafolk to ones that can communicate with telepathy. These ones can maintain their own trial, a human idea."

"I mean, I guess," Mina shrugged. She then came up and handed her, Lillie and Hau Fairium-Z's. "Here," she said. "I guess I should normally battle you all, but Hapu told me you were in a rush so I'll just give them to you for now. But now I'm gonna bug you all about coming and doing my trial once I set it up, alright?"

"Um… alright," Reimu said awkwardly as she accepted hers.

Mina then looked at Marisa and Sunshine. "You two are trainers too, right?"

Marisa jolted around from spacing out. "Er, what? I mean, yeah, we totally are!"

"Here." Mina handed each of them a Fairium-Z.

"Eh… what am I supposed to do with this? I mean, I don't even have a Z-Ring or anything like that!"

"You can probably just stick it on your phone case or something until you get one," Mina said. "The Z-Ring is more symbolic than anything else. And besides, given what lives in there plus what it sounds like you all are about to go try and beat, it might come in handy." Mina then seemingly pulled a large white canvas on a stand from nowhere and started penciling something on it.

"What are doing?" Lillie asked her.

"Oh, me?" Mina said. "Well, unless you were going to do the trial first, I wanted to paint you three in those weird dresses of-"

"STOOP IIIIT!" Lillie shouted stomping the ground. "THAT'S NOT FUNNY AT ALL! I'M GOING IN THERE RIGHT NOW!" She began to rush into the Totem's Den before Reimu stopped her.

"Lillie," Reimu reminded her, "Adele is a Fairy-type. She's going to blast those dragons into orbit if you go first and so me and Hau won't be able to do our trials either." She turned to Mina and asked her, "hey, if you don't mind, could you paint something else?"

"Alright," Mina sighed. "Guess I'll just do another landscape or something."

"Oh, I'm sure you could paint me," Yukari offered. "I'll just remove all my clothing and pose like a French-"

"WE HAVE CHILDREN HERE," Reimu yelled.

"I'm only teasing," Yukari laughed nobly.

"It's hard to tell when you're joking or not," Reimu replied. "Anyway, I'm going in there first. Everyone, do me a favor and make sure Yukari doesn't troll anyone and that Satano and Mai don't wander off without an adult, okay?"

Marisa shrugged. "Eh, can't guarantee they won't try nothin', but eh, is what it is."

"Whatever," Reimu said dismissing them as she walked through the arch into the Totem's Den.

* * *

The commotion and squabbling outside soon gave way to the eerie silence of the Den. Not a single creature could be seen inside the dark cavern, as if a heavy, oppressive presence was keeping them away. Moss grew on the moist walls of the cave and water dripped from the ceiling down onto shallow puddles on the ground. Cautiously, Reimu proceeded, ready to battle anything which jumped out at her and attacked. But after a few minutes of slow, tense walking, nothing. She kept her guard up, looking around and expecting some kind of trap or an ambush to spring out at any moment. She didn't want to appear threatening until she was ready to fight, so she kept her Pokemon sheathed until the moment came. But instead, there was only silence, which made the vigilant shrine maiden all the more apprehensive and was driving her crazy all the while.

In the end, the path the the Dragonium-Z's pedestal was unimpeded. Beyond it, a massive opening leading to the Altar itself. But Reimu knew what must be done first. She felt that, of her Pokemon, Sanae was best suited to taking on the Totem Kommo-o, since she wasn't weak to its main attacking types and had three ways of striking back super-effectively, so readying a Flyinium-Z, she slowly and carefully approached the pedestal. Treading lightly and quietly, and keeping watch for any threats that might be around her, she continued closer. Seeing as how this still somehow wasn't prompting its appearance, she continued right up next to it.

She looked around. No obvious signs of the Totem Kommo-o about to attack her, like thundering footsteps or the rattling of pebbles. Perhaps it would only react to her actually trying to take the Z-Crystal for herself, she thought.

Taking a deep breath, she reached out, and touched it.

The moment she did, a shadowy blob began to form around the pedestal and her feet. "What the?!" she gasped. Quickly, she ran away to a safe distance away from the shadow, in just enough time to turn around and witness a huge, shadowy maw reach up from the ground and engulf the pedestal, then briefly retreating before, in one swift movement, something huge surged from the ground up into the air. Reimu caught sight of the pedestal in this time, and saw it to be empty, with whatever the shadow was having taken it.

She looked up, and saw yet another Doomer descending down toward the ground, this one golden and far larger than any of the four she had previously faced. Its face was obscured by its wings at first, before opening them and letting out an ear-piercing screech, with the Dragonium-Z clearly visible within its body. This was no "ordinary" Sphere Doomer - there was only one title that fit this monster - the Grand Doomer.

The Grand Doomer's wingbeat blew a mighty gust of wind in all directions, causing Reimu to stagger back a couple feet and protect her face as she stood her ground. Once it stopped, she stared it down.

"So… you're the leader," she said. She sent out Lucario to face it. "If that's the case, then I suppose it's time I made you pay for the actions of your minions." The Grand Doomer obviously took that as a threat, since it responded by bum-rushing her almost immediately, which Lucario blocked with a kick.

Recoiling back, the Grand Doomer decided to unveil the rest of its arsenal: waves of searing hot orbs of energy, shooting lightning, stirring up tornadoes… it could even freeze the groundwater and force spires of ice to violently erupt from the ground to try and skewer Lucario, but all Lucario did was jump from one to another like the world's coldest, pointiest plum flower poles ever, before jumping into the air and sinking an Ice Punch into its forehead. The heat of the Sphere Doomer's body was cancelled out by the cold energy surrounding the punch, robbing the Grand Doomer of some of its energy as Lucario punted it into the ground.

Of course, as it had demonstrated before, it could move around under the ground as a shadow, which tried to lock onto Lucario. Thinking quickly, Reimu replaced Lucario with Sanae, whose ability to fly let her glide above the Grand Doomer's attempts to pull her into the ground, forcing it to take to the air and engage Sanae head-to-head. There was not much space in the cavern for an aerial battle, meaning that their duel briefly took them outside in front of the Altar steps. Reimu directed Sanae from the ground as the two duked it out and traded shots. At one point, the whole thing resembled a danmaku fight given the amount of projectiles being slugged around. The imposing Doomer, though, ultimately proved to be very draining for Sanae to fight, causing her to tire out and miss most of her shots. The Grand Doomer saw this opening and used it to sucker-punch Sanae with its wing, casting her aside and forcing Reimu to recall her before she hit the ground.

"Gah!" Reimu was frustrated. "That thing is tough!" She reached for Wakasagehime's Pokeball before she noticed that the Grand Doomer had now decided to take her down while she was distracted. Spreading its wings and letting out a wicked cackle, it dive-bombed her, causing Reimu to duck down quickly to try and avoid the attack.

She heard a forceful blast as the Grand Doomer hit _something _, not herself. Looking up from the ground, she saw what had caused it: the Totem Kommo-o had appeared, and had punched the Grand Doomer with its mighty fist, sending the beast back many meters reeling in pain.

Reimu looked up at it, and it looked down at her. They looked at each other in the eye for a moment, before nodding in agreement about what had to be done now.

It didn't take long for the Grand Doomer to regather enough energy to jump back into the fight, and it was absolutely _pissed _. Reimu sent out Sasha, and the two fighters together made "bring it" gestures to taunt it and enrage it even further, causing it to just go all-in for retaliation instead of using any sort of actual strategy, assuming it was using strategy at all from the start.

The Grand Doomer first used an attack resembling Flare Blitz to charge Kommo-o, but fortunately it knew Protect to block the attack. Rotom used this distraction to scan the Grand Doomer, looking for any weaknesses.

"What do you have, Rotom?" Reimu asked.

"Thizz is strange! It doesn't have any weaknessez or resistancezzz!"

Reimu looked at the Grand Doomer again. "Neutral to everything, huh? Well, I guess since it's flying Earthquake won't hit it, but other than that, no shortcuts. Guess I'll just have to give it everything I got!" She ordered Sasha to tackle it to the ground, which he did, jumping into the air, grabbing it, pile-driving it into the floor of the cave, and then headbutting it for good measure, all of which Kommo-o followed up with by slashing it with its mighty claws.

The Grand Doomer dug itself out of the ground, and used another attack: encasing itself in a thick, stone-like substance and leaving it looking like a floating rock, with only its evil eyes still appearing through the material. In this mode, it attacked mostly by bounding around trying to crush its opponents. Reimu guessed that this was some sort of "safe mode" that it entered when it was in bad shape. She directed Sasha to attack it, but the hard rock repelled any attack that struck it, it seemed. Every attack, that is, except for Kommo-o's, whose giant uppercut sent it flying upward into the air, causing some of the armor to fall off.

Intrigued by this, Reimu decided that this part of the battle was largely out of her hands, since her own Pokemon could do nothing to break the armor, although she felt it would still be a good idea to support Kommo-o somehow. Thinking quickly, she revived Sanae back to full, fighting health, and swapped Sasha out for her. She directed her to fly around and distract the Grand Doomer so that Kommo-o's attacks could hit it without it trying to dodge. Since it had no projectile attacks in this form, Sanae could get close to it relatively safely, draw its attention away from Kommo-o, then lead it within striking distance so that more of its armor could be knocked off. The first pass was a success, as Kommo-o managed to land a precise Flash Cannon (_ so that was its plan for Fairy-types, huh? _, Reimu thought) to shave off more of its armor. It now only had half of it remaining. Just two more hits, Reimu thought, then it will be ready for the final strike.

Reimu repeated her strategy a second time, this time seeing if she could draw the Grand Doomer closer to Kommo-o and potentially allow it to slam it into the ground, leaving it open to just being pummeled instead of having to rely on stray hits from a ranged attack. So Sanae flashed her butt at it and stuck out her tongue, enraging it and causing it to chase her, bounding up and down all the way. Once it was within smashing range, Kommo-o grabbed it and slammed it into the ground, then bearing down on it with both hands like hammers, knocking off even more armor. But then, just before it could land a final strike, the Grand Doomer popped out of the ground suddenly and delivered a devastating body-slam, knocking Kommo-o back and leaving it disoriented. Worryingly, this also caused its Totem Aura to drop, and when it tried to hit the Grand Doomer again, its attack did nothing, just like Reimu's Pokemon.

Reimu was a little panicked at this point. The Totem could no longer hurt the Grand Doomer, and her own Pokemon's attacks were useless against it. How was she supposed to…

...of course. The reason Kommo-o could hurt it was because it was powered up by its Aura. So of course its attacks no longer worked. All she had to do was invoke a little Totem Aura herself. So, holding up the Flyinium-Z, she made a pose reaching into the sky, sending Z-Power coursing into Sanae's body. She had an angry look on her face. Now was the time for payback. Rising up into the air, she turned around, then shot down toward the Grand Doomer at supersonic speeds - Supersonic Skystrike! The Grand Doomer stood no chance as she slammed into it at full force, knocking off the rest of its armor and creating a massive dust cloud which obscured everything.

Once the dust settled, Sanae settled back down onto the ground next to Kommo-o, and they and Reimu watched as the Grand Doomer, now back to normal, came back down to the ground, seemingly gathering energy for some crazy last-dich attack, glaring at Reimu with extreme prejudice. Undeterred, Reimu simply commanded Sanae to finish it off, but before she could she could hear very rapid footsteps behind her. Turning around, she saw a fast-moving object leaving a wide trail of dust behind it, moving in from the cave entrance at high speed, right for the Grand Doomer. The only thing Reimu could process at that moment was the thought to dive out of the way and grab Sanae as she did so. The object just barely missed her as it jumped up into the air and struck the Grand Doomer head-on. Time stopped for a second as everything went color-negative, before the Grand Doomer started flailing around with lights coming out of it, before dissolving and then exploding, sending dozens of Dragonium-Z's shooting in all directions.

Looking back over Totem Kommo-o, who had shielded her from the blast, Reimu briefly wondered what on Earth just happened, before Meiling, now a freshly-evolved Hakamo-o, touched down onto the ground, the last of the Z-energy dissipating as she did so. Hau, and everyone else walked up to them while he clapped and cheered.

"Nice job, Meiling!" he congratulated. "Man, if it weren't for you and Breakneck Blitz, she would have been in real trouble!"

_He just can't read situations well, can he? _, Reimu thought. She had it under control at that point, and he would have been more useful two minutes ago.

Regardless, she humored him and applauded. "Well done, Hau. Well done."

"Thanks!" Hau chirped. He then saw the Dragonium-Z's littering the cave floor. Distracted by their shininess, he was quick to reach for one, before he realized he probably needed the Totem's permission first. So he looked up at it, and just stared, a little intimidated. Totem Kommo-o stared back, then looked at Meiling, who walked up to its side. They appeared to have a moment as they rubbed together in a peculiar fashion.

"What are they doing?" Hau asked. Then, Elio spoke up.

"Oh, I know this!" he called out. "This is a familial greeting. They explained this in one of my high school biology classes. It seems like Meiling is Totem Kommo-o's child, and she's indicating that she's ready to leave and train to get stronger."

The two rubbed together for a couple more moments before Meiling stepped back, and both of them rose up their arms and rattled their scales. Kommo-o then turned to Hau and gave him an approving gesture.

"I think it approves of you being Meiling's trainer," Elio told Hau.

Hau looked back at Kommo-o and clenched his fist. "I will train her until she grows very strong!" he declared forcefully. He then picked up a Dragonium-Z and showed it off to everyone.

"That's the spirit!" Zinnia cheered. "Start your path as a Dragon trainer!"

Reimu picked up a Dragonium-Z herself, and her and Kommo-o gave each other nods. It recognized her strength fighting at its side, and allowed her to mark off her trial as complete. Even so, Reimu could tell it wished to challenge her properly at some point, in order to see her full potential and that of her Pokemon.

Looking ahead, the group laid their eyes on the stairs that lay just outside the cave. They had overcome their final barrier between them and the Altar of the Sunne. There was no turning back now, no further tests. Everyone silently understood what would happen now.

Reimu took the first step. She quietly motioned to everyone else to also go forward. Gathering their resolve, they did just that, exiting the cave outside to the Altar.

Lillie, just before leaving, turned around and let Adele out of her Pokeball. "Um," she asked, "do I still need to battle you? To clear my trial, I mean?"

Kommo-o looked at her for a second before its neck spontaneously lengthened and it ran out the other side of the den.

"I take that as a no," she shrugged, before recalling Adele and scooping up a Dragonium-Z for herself as she walked out.


	45. The Beast that Devours the Sun

By the time the crew stepped out of the cave, it was three in the afternoon. The sun was still high, but only for a few more hours. No time to waste, as the ritual had to be completed in daylight. Even so, they couldn't help but appreciate the imposing presence the Altar of the Sunne asserted among its surroundings. With its many steps, thousands of them straight up, it seemed more like the mountain it was carved from than any manmade structure. The wind whipped down from behind it, blowing the hair and the dresses of all present, and the Altar itself seemed to roar as majestically as a mighty lion.

Reimu took a deep breath. Everything so far, the incident and all the things she had accomplished and seen to resolve it. All of it was leading up to this moment. What came after was anyone's guess at this point. But the only thing that mattered now was getting up there and getting down to business.

She felt someone hold her shoulder. She turned around. It was Marisa.

"Ya okay?" she asked.

Reimu paused for a second, then nodded. "Yeah." The two of them knew that feeling well, after several years of resolving incidents, that moment of foreboding just before facing the zenith. But in this case, they also understood they each had different things at stake, different goals to achieve, different worlds to save. For Reimu, it was getting herself and Gensokyo back to where they needed to be. For Marisa, it was defending both the home she was born in and the one that had grown on her and shaped her life. And they weren't the only ones: Yukari's goal was the same as Reimu's, being a sage of Gensokyo and its founder. And all the people from this world, the Pokemon World, wanted the menace of Necrozma ended before it did irreversible damage to their way of life.

Reimu stepped forward to the bottommost step. She looked up, toward the summit, toward the Altar that stood there in tribute to the Beast who Devours the Sunne.

Breathing in, clenching her fist, and gathering her resolve, she took a step. Then another. And another. And she began her march up the many stone steps, everyone else following closely behind. The last one to begin the walk up was Hau. He took a moment to reflect on all the developments of his adventure across the islands. For so long, he had been looking forward to completing his Island Challenge and making his grandfather proud. How he wanted to become the strongest, the best, and do the impossible. He didn't know, and certainly didn't ask for, what would actually happen once it started. How he would be entangled in an incident of interdimentional proportions, of centuries of lore and history coming home to roost. Just days prior, he almost lost his life when he was blown off that cliff along with everyone else, but Lillie, Reimu, Elio, all of them were there with him, for him, together. And now, just a couple short weeks after his trial began, here he was doing the impossible.

Gathering his determination, he silently muttered to himself, "for gramps." Then he began his march up.

* * *

At the top, the crew was greeted with the sight of the magnificent Altar rising above the floor, with two square pools of water on either side of a massive, stylized sun actual sun, off to the west high in the late afternoon sky, shone down, pouring its countless joules of UV rays onto the bare rock, the symbols, and the skin of everyone that was there.

Looking toward the altar in front of her, Reimu first thought about how she wished the Hakurei Shrine was this grand, before taking out both flutes from her bag. She turned around, and asked the group, "this ritual needs two people. Who wants to blow the Moone Flute while I play the Sunne Flute?"

It didn't take long for Lillie to step up and take the Moone Flute from her hands. "We're doing this to save Nebby too. It wouldn't be right for me to just stand by the wayside."

Reimu smiled. "You've done well. I'm sure your mom would be proud of you if she were here."

"_ Our _mom," Marisa cut in. "It's not just Lillie anymore."

"Of course not," Reimu laughed. "After all, the reason she used Nebby in the first place was to bring all of you back together again. Why else would that other wormhole open up all of a sudden after Necrozma showed up?"

"You think that was mom's doing?" Marisa asked.

"I see no evidence that it wasn't," Reimu quipped. "When she wakes up, if she asks, you can just tell her that it worked."

"If she's at Eientei, I'm sure the first thing she's gonna wonder is why she's surrounded by bunny girls," Marisa said. "I wouldn't put believing she's dead after what happened past her."

"I wouldn't expect Eirin to resist doing shady experiments with the Nihilego toxins she extracts either," Reimu replied. "If we're lucky, she'll just develop an antivenom or something."

"Oh please, she'll make a pill that turns you into a slime if you let her."

"I'm sure she already has." Both girls laughed. Reimu then turned around to the Altar again. She noticed the two ponds had square platforms in the middle of them, one emblazened with the Sunne emblem, the other the Moone emblem. Reimu assumed the corresponding flute player had to stand on that platform as they were blowing it. She pointed this out to Lillie, who stepped over to the Moone platform on the left. Reimu let out Stardust and left it floating above the central Sunne symbol before walking over to the platform on the right. Everyone else hung back a safe distance from the center of the pavillion and observed quietly.

Once on their respective platforms, each inspected their flutes for the notes that had to be played, just to jog their memory (they had already practiced playing the song on the Phantom's boat). Once they did, they looked at each other, made sure they were in position, nodding once they were sure they were. They then looked down, closed their eyes, and in unison, played the short but beautiful melody to summon the Beast who Devours the Sunne.

Almost immediately after finishing, the ground began to shake, and the water features on the altar lit up and glowed a vibrant orange. This orange light traveled up the wall of the Altar to converge on a massive stone dial which opened up to reveal a well of bright yellow light, drawing its energy from the afternoon sun overhead. It then cast its beam down upon Stardust, who began brimming with power as it absorbed the light for several moments. At this point, the reaction was getting to bright to safely look at. Once a sufficient amount of energy was absorbed, Stardust began to brighten intensely, before releasing a sudden, white, sun-shaped starburst which forced everyone to avert their eyes. Once they looked back, they could see it: high in the sky, a massive, shimmering, muscular white lion with a shining mane, whose roar echoed throughout the canyon before falling to the ground. Stardust, now a full-fledged Solgaleo, crashed down on all fours with an impressive _smash _, before bellowing its mighty roar again.

Everyone was impressed by the sight now before them, but Yukari in particular seemed awestruck. As if, she had seen this happen before but… didn't expect the result this time.

Once the dust settled, Reimu rushed up to it, and just had to reach out to feel its metallic skin. "To think," she said, "that little Stardust contained this much power."

"I'm not surprised at all," Marisa said stepping up. "It's just as Alice said: Stardust was like a protostar, super-dense for its size 'cause it contains all the energy it needs to become a sun. Or in this case, a lion that represents the sun. It's just like in alchemy: the symbol of alchemy is a lion eating the sun, and the fusion of metal to create other, rarer metal. This thing is made out of pure metal. It's not so much a lion that represents the sun, than a sun in the shape of a lion." She turned to Sunshine. "Well, whaddya think sport?"

Sunshine reached out her hand, which Solgaleo lowered down to meet with its nose. When the two touched, a bright light shined, and held for a few moments. Withdrawing her arm, Sunshine realized that Solgaleo acknowledged the tremendous power contained within her.

"It knows I'm capable," she said. "It knows I'm a Necrozma, but that I stand against the one which brought darkness to this land all those centuries ago. With our powers combined, it is confident that we will win."

"Necrozma fused with Nebby, then turned it into Lunala to use its power," Lillie explained. "So it makes sense that the only thing that can match it is another Necrozma with Solgaleo's power."

At that moment, Rotom whizzed out of Reimu's bag and scanned Stardust head-to-toe. Recognizing it as the legendary Solgaleo, it overwrote almost everything in its memory about it: replacing the artist's impression from the museum with an image of the real deal, filling in pre-evolutionary data with Cosmog and Cosmoem, filling in its "unknown" typing with Psychic/Steel, and even figuring out the moves it could learn and be taught.

"That little thing sure is impressive," Zinnia commented. "The professor really outdid himself, didn't he?"

"Bzzrt! Scan complete! Can I get juzt one more thing?"

"What is it?" Reimu asked.

"A picture! With all of ya in it!"

"Okay…" Reimu thought this was an awkward time for a photo op, but then again this was a historic occasion. So, she, Lillie, Hau, Marisa and Sunshine all huddled in front of Stardust, posed for the camera, and had Rotom snap the picture. It then uploaded the picture with the caption "ready to save the world! AltarOfTheSunne" on it.

Yukari stepped forward while clapping. "Excellent work, Reimu. I wouldn't expect any less."

"Indeed, this is a historic event," Hapu noted. "I never thought I'd see Solgaleo summoned right before my eyes."

Zinnia then flashed a grin while holding a Pokeball. "I have an idea. Why don't we test its power, right here?"

"You mean a battle?" Reimu asked. "Do we have enough time?"

"Why not?" Zinnia said. "It's still light out, and Necrozma ain't going anywhere."

"I was just about to suggest something similar," Hapu said. "I became the Island Kahuna yesterday, and these trial-goers all qualify for their Grand Trial. And what better place to hold it than right here, the Altar of the Sunne?"

"If we do that, can we make it short?" Reimu asked them. "Is it possible to do a triple battle or something? I don't want to leave either of these two out."

Hapu looked around. "Do we have a third person we could team up with?"

"Why not me?" Yukari offered. "I might be new at Pokemon battling, but I've directed these two for quite some time. I'm sure they'll make fine battling partners. Plus, I want to evaluate Reimu to see how far she has come."

Hapu examined Ran and Chen both, then said, "I don't see any reason why not."

So it was settled: the Grand Trial, held between the Kahuna and two partners versus the trial-goers. The others stepped aside while the battle was being conducted. The six all agreed to limit themselves to using just two Pokemon each, and the side that still had at least one Pokemon at the end won. Reimu understood that everyone wanted to see Solgaleo in action, but she also had Sanae act as her backup, given her Flying typing. Lillie would start with Adele and send out Zygarde as needed, Hau elected to first use Crabomidable and then Hedwig. Hapu's team featured Dugtrio and Mudsdale, while Zinnia used Duraludon and Hydreigon.

Right when the battle started, Reimu commanded Stardust to use its powerful signature Sunsteel Strike, which was enough to crumple Dugtrio up like a piece of tinfoil in just one hit. Duraludon managed to wipe out Crabomidable with Steel Beam, but not before a launched punch from the crab hit it right in the face, which combined with the recoil from the attack was able to take it out as well. Interestingly enough, despite a type advantage and her massive power, Adele found herself almost matched by the wit and power of the thousand-year-old kitsune's illusions and skill, and only won out in the end because, ultimately, there was no dodging a wall of water on all sides of you. After that, Zygarde was able to mop up Chen while Hedwig made short work of Mudsdale using Leaf Blade.

That left just Zinnia's Hydreigon, which proved a piece of work due to its typing and moves. The dragon master had taught the thing Focus Energy and strapped a Scope Lens to it, which meant it could spam its Draco Meteors to no detriment to itself. It could even sideswipe Moonblasts from Adele, which would otherwise knock it out; Adele at least acted as a distraction, being able to take no damage from the barrage of draconic rocks falling from the air. In a similar vein to back at the shrine with the mystery Tapu/The Great Dragon, Hedwig used this distraction as the one moment it needed to pin Hydreigon's shadow into place, leaving it open to a Sunsteel Strike and a Moonblast in that order.

After the battle, the trainers all recalled and healed their Pokemon, while Elio and Marisa both cheered from the sidelines.

"You totally kicked their butts!" Marisa shouted.

"Your battling is impressive as always," Elio complimented in turn.

Reimu shook her head. "I didn't kick their butts. _We _did, the three of us as a team."

"And what a team you are," Hapu congratulated. "Working to take down a tough Pokemon with a clever strategy that you made up on the spot."

"Er… we did kind of pull it off before," Reimu said, thinking back to the fight at the Shrine.

"Well then, you successfully executed it again, I would wager even better than before."

"Oh please," Zinnia sarcastically sneered, "if there weren't laws against Hydreigon learning Nasty Plot, I would have done that instead." She then smiled, saying, "regardless, that was one heck of a fight, with you and your legendary Solgaleo. I'd say… gosh, it's been at least fourteen years since that day on top of Sky Pillar with May that I've had a battle like that."

"Indeed, it was a fierce battle," Yukari noted. "Even without your powers, I can tell this experience has made you grow as a person."

"Why do you say that?" Reimu asked.

Yukari giggled. "Dear Reimu, I've watched over you for so long. Others see you as lazy and cranky, and you might think that of yourself. But deep down, you're a caring person who can lead, fight with and direct others expertly. Perhaps that's why you get so many 'unwanted' guests at the shrine. But until now, you haven't faced an incident that truly brought out those latent qualities of yours. It took a major incident almost tailor made to make you rely on them for you to show just how skilled, witty and personable you really are."

Reimu didn't know what to think. Straight praise like this from Yukari was very rare. So she just smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

Hapu then turned to Lillie and Hau. "As for you two, you both are also new trainers but already battle at the level of experts, and it's no doubt because of her. I think you both are much stronger and more capable, both as trainers and as people, with her at your side aiding and guiding you."

"Thanks!" Hau smiled. "It's really nothing."

Lillie also smiled confidently. "I appreciate it as well."

Hapu approached the three, then reached and pulled out three Groundium-Z's, one for each of them. "As proof of your mastery, I present these." And each accepted their respective Z crystal. With the Groundium-Z in her possession, all eighteen types were now at Reimu's command. Her Island Challenge was now nearly complete.

Once the little ceremony was done, all their attention turned to resolving the incident at hand.

"Now then," Reimu directed, "with Solgaleo… no, Stardust at our side, it's time we take down that son of a bitch Necrozma. Show it that you do _not _mess with Gensokyo if you value not being rendered into space dust. Now, Stardust, if it's possible for you to-"

At that moment, Stardust let out yet another mighty roar, which resonated all throughout the canyon. Just after, Reimu felt something warm in her bag.

"Hm?" She looked inside to see what it was, and saw something incredible: it was the yin-yang orb, dormant for so long due to lack of power but now glowing white, seemingly reacting to Stardust. It floated out, and in a quick flash, changed shape and appearance so that it now appeared as a stylized sun symbol, the same as the one on the Altar.

"What's going on?!" Reimu exclaimed. But then she realized: Solgaleo was revered as a god by the Alolan people. Reimu's power was to channel the power of gods, which in turn was powered by faith. And now that faith combined with Stardust's own abilities were pouring into the orb, causing it to exude untold amounts of power, power which now coursed not only into Reimu herself, but also her gohei and her previously useless spell cards which were revived and transmuted to ones which reflected Stardust's capabilities and moves.

And with that power, she did something she had not in a while: she began to float. Everyone else simply looked on as this unfolded, taken aback at her simply floating in the air in a way that seemed unnatural.

All Reimu could do was look at Stardust, who looked back at her. They didn't need to exchange any words for them to understand what was happening: Stardust was thanking Reimu for saving it from the Sphere Doomers and keeping it safe up to this moment, and in return it was lending her some of its power, realizing her ability to make use of it.

Reimu looked at herself, and to the onlookers observing her. And she smirked.

"Well then, it would seem the Hakurei Shrine Maiden is officially back in business," she said. "It might not be with the patron kami's blessings, but I have now absorbed power from one of the legends of Alola. And with this power, I will personally crush Necrozma between my fingers."

"Amazing," Elio said quietly. Hau and Lillie were similarly amazed, since they were used to her battling capabilities but until now had never actually seen her shine maiden powers, so seeing her floating in the air and quickly demonstrating her regained abilities by firing a powerful pattern of bullets in one direction seemed surreal and even a little scary.

"I gotta admit," Marisa said, "just when I think I see everything outta ya, you come and show you still got even more tricks up your detached sleeves."

Lillie commented, "I agree. I've never even seen you using the powers you've described… hm?" Her Pokeball shook. It was Zygarde's. Curious, she let it out, and Zygarde slithered over to one side of Stardust. Then, it rose up into the air, and the scene seemed to darken as, suddenly, everyone felt the presence of many.

"What is this?" Reimu shouted looking around.

"I don't know!" Lillie said trying to keep her stance. "It must be gathering power!" And gathering power it was, as cells and cores rushed from all around into Zygarde's body, resizing and reshaping it before settling on a very bizarre design, one which resembled a mecha, which crashed down onto the ground and screeched a piercing roar all around.

"Zygarde's complete form..." Zinnia mumbled.

"Come again?" Lillie asked.

"Zygarde's complete form," Zinnia explained. "This is the form it takes when the balance of nature is seriously threatened. It doesn't assume this form for anything less. Zygarde must recognize the threat Necrozma poses and was waiting until this very moment to gather all of its strength and face it fresh."

Yukari was intrigued, and reached up to feel it. "A single being made of many cells, spread across looking over nature, coming together to combine their power in times of need."

Seeing two legendaries in front of them, Reimu asked, "so, now we have two powerful legendaries, plus Sunshine. Anything else?" And as if on cue, something which sounded like a jet flew from the south right toward the Altar. Peering at it to try and make it out, Marisa realized what it was: the Black Arwing.

The craft slowed, then came to a hovering stop just above the altar floor. The glass window lifted open, and out popped Alice wearing a helmet and visor and with two dolls at her side.

"I figured you guys could use an extra hand?" she asked them.

"Alice?" Marisa exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I knew you all had everything you needed to safely get here, I was just waiting for you to get ready to face Necrozma. Now come on, let's do this!"

Hau looked up at the Arwing and couldn't believe it. "No way… is that…"

"A long story, for another time," Marisa told him. Whipping out her broom and in one swift motion, she scooped up Lillie and Hau, dropping them on top of Zygarde and Solgaleo, respectively, before pulling up alongside the Arwing to act as Alice's wingwoman. "Reimu!" Marisa shouted. "Let's shake a leg!"

"Got it!" Reimu affirmed. "Stardust, can you lead us to where Necrozma is?" After a moment, Stardust turned to face the Altar wall, roaring once again to create a ripple in spacetime. It then jumped up, with Hau holding on, and used Sunsteel Strike on the ripple, tearing it open into an Ultra Wormhole and disappearing inside.

"Alright," Reimu commanded. "Let's bring this to an end. Everyone, follow me!" She flew straight into it, followed by Lillie and Zygarde, the two witches and Sunshine, the dancers, and finally Elio, who rode atop Alduin, held up his Mega Bracelet, and mega-evolved Alduin into Mega Charizard X just as they flew in.

Afterward, Hapu, Yukari and Zinnia were left behind, staring at the still-open wormhole. Zinnia turned to Yukari and asked her, "you think they'll be alright in there?"

"Oh, don't you worry," Yukari assured her. "I talked around and made plans before coming here. Professor Kukui gave me a device I could use to track Reimu's Rotom Dex which should work in Ultra Space." She looked at her watch. "And it's getting close to the agreed upon time…"

* * *

Zipping through Ultra Space, weaving between the bands of energy and bursts of electricity that coursed throughout, Reimu, flying gracefully with her gohei in one hand and with everyone else trailing behind, felt a rush of adrenaline as they barreled through in search of their target with a big fat smile on her face.

"Alright, buckle up guys," she shouted, "we're going full speed ahead!"

"Roger that!" Marisa affirmed.

Hau, riding atop Stardust, was absolutely exhilarated. "This is flippin' awesome!" he exclaimed. "Am I right, Lillie?!"

Lillie, looking out from on top of Zygarde's back, took a moment to respond, before flashing a wicked grin and an evil look.

"HELL YEAH IT IS!"

"That's the spirit!" Reimu said.

As they continued forward, they soon caught sight of various energy creatures fluttering in front of them, hoping to obstruct their path. Squinting, Reimu could just barely make them out.

"What are those things?" Elio asked.

"Doomers," Reimu told him. "I guess Ultra Space is their home." She readied an attack. "Y'all want to see a danmaku demonstration? 'Cause we're about to rock and roll!" And with one swift motion, her yin-yang orb split into four, firing a steady stream of needles at the Doomers, mowing them down by the dozen, supported by fire from the Black Arwing and Alice's Dolls which flew alongside, stars from Marisa, and light beams from Sunshine, who was also aided by her Pokemon. Zygarde began to attack by sending out scale-like pulses, which Lillie could direct by pointing at a target. Hau summoned Hedwig to shoot arrows and Shadow Balls at key targets, while Elio opted to get up close and personal, letting out Dragonite and allowing it and Alduin to slash, claw and breathe fire at the Doomers. The dancers mostly focused on support, increasing the fighter's abilities so they wouldn't completely fizzle out fighting the legions of Doomers attempting to kill them.

"Is this what your fights look like?" Hau asked.

"This is just a normal day for me!" Reimu told him. Seeing a particularly large swarm of Doomers heading straight toward her, she decided to call upon her tried and true trump card. In a swift, natural motion, she tossed out a card, which soon erupted into lights and then a seal, binding and then nuking the Doomers all at once.

"Excellent," she said. "Fantasy Seal still works just as well as ever."

She used a brief lull to get creative with her tactics, and found she was fully capable of using Stardust's Sunsteel Strike attack. Once another swarm appeared, she tried it out, allowing her to rocket straight through, knocking aside all the Doomers in her path before striking and obliterating a particularly large one which could fire missiles. The stragglers were all picked off by her comrades, and it was hoped that the onslaught had ended.

Slightly further down, a single figure floated in place, prompting Reimu to pull up and see who it was, and as it turned out it was a face she had not seen in a while.

"So then," she said, "you show yourself again. Whose orders are you following this time?"

Ultra Medicine turned around, and revealed that she, like Ultra Reimu, had changed since Reimu saw her last: now more like the real Medicine as opposed to the crystalline mismash they first met at the meadow. In place of Poipole, a Murdoll, similar to the one Ultra Alice and Marisa used in their battle against their counterparts. It seemed to be a rule that "Ultra" counterparts had differences from their genuine articles; in this case, Ultra Medicine had a dirtier blonde bordering on brown and a blue dress with white accents and bows similar to the kind of dress Alice wore when she was young. She also carried a foxglove, as opposed to a lily-of-the-valley. Her Murdoll had a similar coloration which could be assumed to be its "shiny" color, and wielded a misericorde.

"You came," she said plainly. "The way you defeated all of the Doomers is most impressive."

"I wouldn't suppose you are the one directing them?" Reimu snarled.

"They were directed by nothing but themselves," Ultra Medicine explained. "They get riled up whenever there is a disturbance in the level of Ultra Radiation, and are drawn to rich sources of energy. They are the natural predators of Cosmog, but fully evolved Solgaleo and Lunala smite and prey on them in turn, drawing their sustenance from their cores. So it's only natural that a few would manage to travel to Alola in search of these disturbances. The master understood the danger they posed to you, and would have saved you from your falling deaths if it knew you otherwise would not be able to survive it. But that boy came to your aid and you gained another ally, a most impressive quality that the master treasures in you."

Reimu drew her weapon and further pressed, "tell me right now exactly what it is your master wants with me."

"I will answer," Ultra Medicine replied. "The master has been watching you ever since the day you were born, and has been overseeing your entire journey. He has placed trials in your path to determine your abilities, observed how you resolve incidents and conduct yourself, how you form relationships and alliances. In other words, he has been testing you all this time, and grooming you in order to challenge you Himself, in order to see your potential firsthand."

Reimu gave her a stern look. "Picking a fight with me cannot be the only reason for all the disruption it has caused."

"There is a method to His discord," Ultra Medicine said. "Gensokyo's existence within the Hakurei Border was unstable in the long term, something which He recognized long ago. In order to protect it and its inhabitants, He sent the original off to a safe realm - the Pokemon World, in this case - and is in the final stages of creating its replacement, which can exist and prosper for all time."

Reimu was just about ready to punch Ultra Medicine in the face, but was also deeply troubled by what she said. She had feared that the Hakurei Border would weaken and destabilize at some point, a concern she shared with Yukari and a few others. Supposedly, Necrozma had this concern as well, but why would it have a stake in Gensokyo's fate? In what way did it feel Gensokyo was vital to its interests? Why was transporting the original out and replacing it with a replica or some other replacement necessary in its view?

Wanting answers, Reimu knew that they needed to reach their world as quick as they could, in order to see for themselves. "I want to see this 'replacement' for myself. Will you let us through before I bust the obstruction myself?" she threatened.

Ultra Medicine assumed a battle stance. "The master asked me to evaluate your skills one more time, here within Ultra Space, before allowing you to proceed."

"If you insist!" Reimu shouted, before unleashing a volley of needles and ofuda toward Ultra Medicine, followed up by waves of shots from her allies. Ultra Medicine soon demonstrated she was no rookie danmaku fighter, weaving between all the shots with expertly coordinated dodges.

Reimu did not expect that Ultra Medicine would fight exactly as regular Medicine did, but still took caution in case she began to spew poison. And sure enough, Ultra Medicine's first offensive action was to toss out danmaku grenades which burst and released psychoactive gas. Anyone passing through them was immediately overcome with disorienting and frightful hallucinations, incapacitating them and leaving them open to follow-up attacks, either from Ultra Medicine herself, or a Night Slash or Sucker Punch courtesy of Murdoll.

Wanting to control the poison gas, Lillie sent out Hecatia in order to absorb the gas which was being spewed. Being a poison gas ghost herself, Hecatia grew stronger and stronger the more she absorbed, and converted that power into supercharged Shadow Balls. Despite being a danmaku battle, everyone realized that their Pokemon could be used to support them in the fight. Magnezone, for example, was immune to the poison and could knock out Murdoll with a super-effective Flash Cannon. Alice supported by blasting at Ultra Medicine with her single blaster cannon, bolstering it by also using her spell cards through her doll proxies outside. Marisa threw her Mini-Hakkero up into the air, splitting it into three copies of itself which fired bullets and also shot lasers which combined into one powerful beam aimed right at the target. Elio found Ultra Medicine herself unsafe to approach, he sent out Victreebel out to absorb the toxins while focusing on trying to knock Murdoll out. Eventually, the combined efforts of Magnezone and Alduin were enough to knock it out and force Ultra Medicine to recall it. The fact that it wasn't replaced indicated that it was her only Pokemon. However, losing Murdoll proved to be nothing more than a mere setback for Ultra Medicine, who immediately fired off her more potent spell cards, dropping spreading poison entirely in favor of sheer firepower. At this point, none of her patterns matched anything the real Medicine used, as they consisted of complex prismatic arrays radiating out and attempting to fence in their targets.

Reimu ordered everyone else to fall back and support from afar while she dove in attempting to search for a break. With lasers closing in on her, and an escape route seemingly absent, she flipped through her cards to see if she had an effective counter to it. Because the source of her powers was different than the one she was used to, all the ones besides her signature Fantasy Seal and Fantasy Nature were different than the ones she used normally. But as she searched, she found the same weak counterattack card she had demonstrated the day she arrived in Alola. Except now, it was powered up by Solgaleo, turning it into "Alchemy Sign: Sun Eater." Reimu decided to give it a shot, and what the card unleashed was nothing short of amazing: metallic grey lasers shot out, intercepting and cancelling the prismatic array, then closed in and "bit" Ultra Medicine like a set of fangs. The attack was strong enough to cause Ultra Medicine to stagger, creating an opening for Reimu to swoop in and slash her with her gohei, the decisive blow needed to end the fight in their favor.

Weak and unable to continue the battle, Ultra Medicine retreated, and Reimu and the crew gave chase. Their pursuit led them to a nearby wormhole, one with a white entrance as opposed to the colored entrances the ones around them possessed.

Pulling up in front of it, Reimu closed her eyes and focused, trying to get a feel for the aura emanating from it. The clear signature of the Hakurei Border could be sensed on the other side, leaving no doubt that this portal led to her world.

"Well?" Marisa asked her.

"This is it," Reimu answered. "This is the wormhole leading to Gensokyo, or at least where it used to be. There's no doubt Necrozma is there, too. Now, are you ready to come with me to face it?"

Looking around at their psychedelic surroundings, Hau slyly replied, "well, we're kinda committed now, aren't we?"

Reimu chuckled at his honest answer, before turning right around and heading straight in, with everyone else following suit.


	46. The Mane of Dusk

When Violet came to, she found herself on the cold, hard ground, her dress torn in several places and with scrapes and smudges all over her. It was dark out, and the temperature was falling fast. She knew she had to find her way back home soon.

Home.

Her home was destroyed, and her family killed.

Violet broke down in tears, sobbing and cursing the attackers who razed her home and murdered her parents. She was lost in the woods, and didn't know what to do. Should she just try and find a cave somewhere? But what if dangerous Pokemon or enemy soldiers found her? How would she feed herself? Make sure she had water to drink? And more importantly, where was Maribel?

She looked around, trying to get her bearings, when she found a little purple puff ball at her side. Her first thought was that this was a Pokemon, but it didn't look like any Pokemon she had ever seen.

She reached out to touch it, when it jolted around in surprise. "Pew!" It shook its pom-poms about, and Violet jumped back. Once the shock was over with, Violet reached out again, and the puffball touched her hand. It was wispy but soft, and looked like a little nebula with a black face with yellow eyes.

"Hello, my name is Violet," she said softly. "Can you understand me? What is your name?" The little puffball responded with an incoherent chirp. Violet decided to name it "Starlight," due to the white specks on it resembling stars in the night sky.

Taking Starlight into her arms, Violet started to wander around. They had landed in a bare patch surrounded by thick forest, their only light the bright moon above. Violet was hesitant to wander into the woods, which looked nothing like the trees she recalled running into when she passed out. Had she been taken somewhere by someone or something else, she wondered?

She walked around some more, and began to think about just settling right here for now, when she heard a rustling in the nearby bush. Jolted by the sudden noise, she hid behind a tree, where she and Starlight peered around it toward where the sound was coming from. For a minute, the rustling grew and grew, and Violet feared an animal had sensed her presence and was looking for an easy snack. Violet felt for sure this was where she was going to die.

Thankfully, to her surprise and relief, what emerged was not an animal, but a group of men dressed in tribal clothes carrying spears. These men were out hunting, in order to gather extra food to make it through the coming winter. They spoke a language she did not understand. Violet's next thought was, who were these people? Why were they dressed like barbarians? And why were there no Pokemon at their side?

It didn't take long for one of the men to notice her hiding behind the tree, and to call attention to it. At first, she squeaked and hid, but the men came over wishing to see a girl seemingly out here in the dangerous woods all on her own. They spoke to one another, then approached her softly to let her know they were not going to hurt her. Regardless, her appearance was strange to them, being a fair-skinned girl with shining blonde hair and an elegant dress as opposed to their own browner skin, dark hair and cloth. At her side was a strange puffball creature, which had the curiosity of a child. At first, they were concerned that this girl might be a witch or a demon of some sort, attempting to lure them into a trap. But the lead hunter could tell that she was scared, confused, and injured, based on her appearance. After some debating, they offered to lead her back to their village so that she could heal up. They let Starlight come with her too.

The village was located close to a river bank, and when they came back with Violet the villagers took an interest in her. Certainly the elder did, seeing as the girl dressed strangely and didn't speak their language. Violet was able to act out her predicament, and after some consideration, she was allowed to remain in the village. A family with a son two years her senior elected to take her and Starlight in.

It didn't take very long for Violet to establish she was no longer in Kalos. Instead, she had been transported to late Jōmon Japan, some three-thousand years before our present day. Rather than attempt to find a way back home, given that she did not know how she even got here in the first place, and realizing that her old life had been destroyed anyway, she simply resigned herself to living out the rest of her life here with these people, adopting their lifestyle, their mode of dress, and their language. Over time, her skills proved to be something extraordinary, introducing writing to the tribe as well as crafting impressive clay figurines typical of the era, both in their style and based on designs reminiscent of her old home. As she learned their language and their legends, she ultimately told the story of how she got to where she was, and how she survived a war in a distant land. She still wasn't able to account for how Starlight came about, but she assumed it was a "gift from the heavens" given to her after she survived the attack on her home. Over time, she and the boy she lived with took over the household and became husband and wife. On their wedding night, Starlight absorbed energy from the bright full moon above, becoming a Cosmoem in the process; the event was considered a commemoration of their union and immortalized in murals. Violet eventually bore the man a daughter.

However, the trauma of losing her family and her home had affected Violet greatly, to the point where she feared death. Growing older, she saw the aging village elders succumbing to disease; she did not wish to face that fate. Fortunately, at least in her view, death was not set in stone, for she could manipulate the boundary of life and death and keep herself from aging, from dying. So that's what she did, starting in her mid-twenties. Each year, she would turn the clock on her body's aging back another year, resetting her age and maintaining her enviable beauty.

But this facade could not be hidden forever. At first, the villagers, her husband and daughter included, just assumed her differing features meant she aged more gracefully than they did. But it soon became clear that she was not aging at all. Theories abounded as to why: was it Starlight? Was she a goddess of some sort? But then, her own husband caught sight of her one night, the night of her fiftieth birthday, bending the boundary of life and death to maintain her eternal youth, and it was then he came to the conclusion: she was a witch, a being with unnatural power who had charmed her way into their tribe. She tried to explain it, but the villagers were having none of it. They chased her out, her and Starlight both, and threatened to kill her if she dared to come back. However, the man insisted that his daughter be spared, a wish the rest of the village granted.

Scorned by their old friends and family, and with nowhere to go, Violet and Starlight wandered off into the dark woods, Violet cursing the villagers and even her own husband for turning on her, due to their fear of her powers that she was born with. A monster, a witch, even a demon… they called her all these things as they threw rocks at her while chasing her out. Violet understood that even if she went to another settlement, the people there would just label her the same and chase her out. Anywhere there was normal humans, she could not go now.

She eventually came to a rocky bluff overlooking a clear lake, the reflection of the full moon reflecting off its gently rippling waters. Standing atop it, she looked out, and up at the moon. She had always been associated with the full moon, she thought. She and Maribel were born on a full moon, she came here on a full moon, she got married on a full moon. Now, the full moon saw her get forced out of the human village. Violet looked up and could imagine asking it for guidance. She felt it a little silly to do so, but the full moon was always there for important moments in her life, and right now, she had nothing else to turn to, except Starlight, who had been unresponsive since the day it transformed.

Meanwhile, up on the moon, the Lunarians looked down upon the impure, dirty Earth which they had freshly vacated.

"Savages," lord Tsukuyomi expressed, "the lot of them. Wallowing in their filth and ignorance, their primitive way of life, and most importantly, their impurity. That is why we have come here, to the Lunar Capital, our new home, to establish a place away from impurity."

"I will admit it was a clever plan," Eirin Yagokoro said, "but the humans are a skillful and crafty bunch. They already have civilization - primitive civilization, but civilization nonetheless. It won't be that long before they figure out how to get up here to the moon and discover us, even with the boundary we have set up to separate fantasy from reality."

Tsukuyomi's helmet obscured the look of seething contempt on his face as his fist shook. "That is what I fear," he answered. "Your insight, as always, is infallible. But I have created a plan to set the humans back for as long as possible."

"What is that?" Eirin asked him.

Tsukuyomi looked out his window down toward the Earth. "Their fears. Their fears of the unknown, how they create gods to look up to and to guide them. In the light of day, they fear little, but in the dark of night, the unknown can hide and prey on their emotions. The light of the moon can be used to render these fears into flesh. And that is what I intend to do. Observe."

He led Eirin out from his quarters and toward the vast gardens outside his palace, which had a direct view of Japan. Lifting his staff, he chanted a spell and the tip lit up, indicating that the magic was doing its work. From the surface of the moon, nothing seemed to be happening. But it was a different story on the Earth.

Violet looked at the moon more, and the more she did, the more it seemed to get brighter. And brighter. And brighter still, until she was not able to look at it. What was going on, she wondered?

A gust of wind blew under her clothes as the light intensified. Meanwhile, Starlight flew up into the air, gathering the moon's light and converting it into massive amounts of energy. Violet herself seemed to be reacting to it as well; she felt a strong aura build up both in and around her body. This power lifted her up off of the ground, causing her hair to float freely. Violet decided not to fight it and just let whatever was happening, happen. She felt an intense pressure build up within her for many moments, before finally bursting into light.

Once it was done, she gracefully fell back down to the ground onto her feet… wearing shoes. She had not been wearing shoes. She looked down, and found herself dressed in a white dress with puffy long sleeves and a purple tabard with various symbols emblazoned onto it, a parasol in her hand, and her head capped by a white mob cap with a red string tie on the front.

After checking out her appearance, her attention turned to Starlight, who was overflowing with energy from the moon. Suddenly, it burst into light, forcing Violet to avert her eyes. When she looked back, she could not believe what she saw: a very large, regal, and elegant bat-like creature with wings like the starry night sky and a head with a collar behind it like a crescent moon. It screeched a piercing shriek, before swooping down to an awestruck Violet, amazed to see what Starlight had become.

"Starlight…" she said, running up to it and hugging it. "I never thought… you would become so powerful." Starlight looked at her, proud that it made its mother happy with what it had become.

The tender moment was cut short, though. All of a sudden, the water beneath her rippled, and the bushes around her rustled. Frightened, she lifted her parasol in defense, while Starlight stood ready to shield her. Then, it happened: the first kappa crawled out of the water, the first kitsune and tanuki out of the trees, the first tengu dived out of the air toward her. All around her, youkai born from human fears and superstition surrounded her, and Violet, unsure of what these all were and what was going on, felt certain that this was the end. As she tensed up and braced herself for what would happen next, something unexpected happened.

They stopped.

And one by one, they bowed. All of them, the night sparrows, the yamibikos, the tengu, even the kappa, causing the water on their heads to spill onto the ground.

"Master," they said, first one at a time, then in unison.

And then she understood: these creatures, born from superstition and with a thirst for human blood, were led by her, and her alone. And she was one of them, despite her human form. The first of them. The first youkai.

Violet smiled, and chuckled. "Welcome, my children," she said. "Welcome to a new age. An age, where the humans whose fear created and rejected us, shall be preyed upon for all eternity. Where legends and myths shall reign supreme." Her noble laughter was joined by a chorus of giggles, chortles and haunting cries, with the screech of Starlight piercing above all of them. No longer was she the human Violet Cloud. From then on, she came to be known and feared throughout the valley as the leader of the youkai… the demon queen, Yukari Yakumo.

Incidentally, her boundary manipulation and related powers were retained by her daughter, and were never quite bred out of subsequent generations, a factor which Yukari would later consider when she selected one such descendent to be the first Hakurei Shrine Maiden.

* * *

The wormhole emerged onto a dim, grassy patch. Reimu was the first one out, and everyone else soon came after.

As they all collected themselves and Alice parked the Arwing in place, Reimu took a moment to size up the location in which they now found themselves. What she found filled her with foreboding.

"What's it lookin' like?" Marisa asked her. But that question soon answered itself as she and everyone else took a look around.

"My god…" Reimu muttered. "A recreation of Gensokyo…"

She was right: they were inside the Hakurei Border, but instead of the Gensokyo she knew, a dark, somehow incomplete copy occupied the space. Above them, the starry night sky, which was sometimes broken by wisps of Ultra Radiation which now coursed through the border.

"This is insane," Hau remarked. "I just wanted to go on my Island Challenge. I never thought it'd take me someplace like THIS."

"I could say the same," Reimu responded. "I don't think there's anyone here right now who could look at this scene and still claim sanity." She stepped forward. "Somehow, Necrozma managed to create a replica of Gensokyo, and has now filled the space within the border with it." She crossed her arms. "Just when I think this whole incident can't possibly get any more messed up, Necrozma comes by and throws yet another curveball, another problem to have to get sorted out."

Alice looked around and shook her head. "But this… this will not be reversed easily. Necrozma has overstepped its bounds. If and when it is cornered and defeated, it must be destroyed for its crimes."

"You don't think I already know that?" Reimu retorted.

Lillie came up to Reimu. "So… what happens now?"

Reimu looked around, and caught sight of it. On the opposite side of the valley from where they were, a shrine between two mountains, with a long set of stairs leading up to it.

"There," she said pointing with her gohei. "The shrine. I'm almost certain my doppelganger is there. If there's any sure way to bring this incident to an end, it'll probably involve fighting her and pumping her for answers. I hope you're all ready to fight as well."

They checked their Pokemon, healed if necessary, and looked up. "Seems like it," Elio said.

"Excellent." She motioned them to follow her. "Stay close to me."

* * *

The Ultra Wormhole had dropped them off on a grassy knoll near the Garden of the Sun. Reimu had decided not to fly to the shrine, since she didn't want to attract the attention of anyone living here, assuming anyone _was _here. Combined with the fact that their Ride Pagers didn't work here, that meant they had to walk the entire distance to the shrine. To get there, they had to cross the river, which was wide and deep. The real Gensokyo had a bridge that crossed the river near the Human Village, which was along the route to the shrine, so Reimu figured that would be the best place to cross if this replica Gensokyo had a similar bridge across the river.

The landscape was dreary and desolate. Everything was tinged a shade of blue, purple or black, with the occasional white stripes and spots here and there. In some places, trees were rendered as sharp, crystal spires with jagged spikes in place of branches. There wasn't even any wind, creating an eerie stillness which was broken only by the faint humming of the radiation streaming throughout the barrier, as well as their own footsteps, causing the hairs on everyone's skin to stand up and send shivers down their spine.

"This place gives me the creeps," Hau said. "It's dark, it looks like I'm on another planet…"

"You're not the only one who's scared," Reimu assured him. "I've just gotten very good at hiding it. Everyone here is scared. Scared of where we are, scared of what might happen. But we just have to put on a brave face. As long as we have each other, we'll make it through this." Hearing those words made Hau feel a little better, helping him regather his resolve to see this through. All they could do now was just move forward.

So far, the group didn't encounter any sign of life. On one hand, this meant there were no threats so far. On the other hand, it caused the place to be even more hollow and empty than it already was. Walking along the shore of the replica Misty Lake, the replica Scarlet Devil Mansion loomed large over the east shore like a supervillain fortress. The Youkai Mountain towered high above like a dark citadel, and the Myouren Temple stood above the valley like an ominous temple. Coursing through the middle was a slow but large and winding river, which the group walked alongside while they made their way to the bridge crossing. It was here that they encountered their first denizen.

Reimu halted the group and pointed it out. "Don't move," she cautioned. In the river, a head popped out. It looked like Nitori's, but pale and with dark black hair. The figure eyed them for a few seconds before sinking beneath the water and swimming upstream. Once she was sure the threat had passed, they continued toward their quarry.

After a while, they caught sight of the bridge. Next to it, two brightly colored figures stood out against the darkness, one with long blonde hair, and the other with short red hair.

"Hold it," Reimu said. "I think I recognize those two."

"Hey, aren't those Junko and Hecatia from recently?" Marisa asked.

"I think so," Reimu answered. The names rang a bell for Lillie and Hau, since those two names featured in one of Reimu's stories. From what Lillie could recall, one was a purity spirit, the other the ruler of Hell. And now, they were going to face them, face-to-face. The group continued, ready for whatever these two had up their sleeves.

"I gotta admit," Hecatia said, "I wasn't expecting Necrozma to do _this _."

"Indeed," Junko affirmed. "We did say it could do anything with Chang'e's power once it killed her. But to replace Gensokyo with one of its own creation… just what all is it capable of? What kind of power does it wield?"

"That's what we'd like to know," Reimu cut in, her posse standing close behind. "So… you two again. You know, ever since this whole mess started, I had a feeling you were somehow involved."

"...ah," Hecatia said. "The shrine maiden. You're quite talented to make your way to this place."

Reimu held up her gohei threateningly. "You can dispense with the pleasantries. The only thing that matters right now is that you were conspiring with Necrozma, who has disrupted Gensokyo's order. I should terminate you for that crime, but before I do, I want you to tell me everything. What kind of deal did you make with Necrozma? Why were you conspiring with it?"

"Now now, we can settle this without violence," Junko said. "At least, violence between people."

"What do you mean?" Reimu asked. Then, Junko and Hecatia pulled out objects resembling Pokeballs, before tossing them to reveal a Solrock from Junko's, and a Lunatone from Hecatia's.

"This is a custom they perform in that world," Junko remarked. "Could you show us that experience? We can explain everything if you do."

Now this was unexpected, Reimu thought. Where did they get Pokemon from? Did Necrozma grant them?

"...so be it," Reimu grunted. "Lillie, care to back me up?"

"Oh, uh, sure," Lillie said, stepping up and sending out Adele to handle the two Rock-types. Reimu directed Stardust up to the plate and had it use Sunsteel Strike against Solrock, while Lillie directed Adele to use Sparkling Aria against Lunatone. Despite being a pair of powerful goddesses, Junko and Hecatia were still novice trainers, and the two Pokemon went down easily with barely any fuss.

"...sorry," Junko apologized. "We are still new at this."

"No pressure," Reimu said sarcastically. "Feel free to do whatever you need."

"As you wish," Junko answered, sending out another Pokemon, this time an Espeon, while Hecatia sent out a Torterra, a seemingly odd choice for her, but Reimu wasn't exactly complaining. Lillie switched Adele with Snowy, who froze Torterra up with Ice Beam while Sasha shrugged off Espeon's Psychic blasts to smash it into the ground and belly-slam it.

After this, the two goddesses sent out their respective trump cards: a Volcorona from Junko, and a Dusknoir from Hecatia. Analyzing them, now it made sense to Reimu: Junko was associated with the sun and each of her Pokemon had to do with the sun somehow, while Hecatia's represented the terrestrial, moon and spirit worlds respectively. It figured into their spell cards, it was only natural that their taste in Pokemon would match this tendency. In any case, these two Pokemon were actually competent: Dusknoir made use of Bulk Up, Shadow Punch, and even Brick Break to cover its Dark weakness, while Volcorona had the dreaded Quiver Dance, along with Fiery Dance, Bug Buzz and Psychic, meaning it could hit anything it wished at least neutrally. Adele at least could handle Volcorona by attempting to dowse it. For Reimu, she felt the best strategy would be to skirt Dusknoir by directing Sanae to fly out of punching range and pelt it with Air Slashes. All was well and good, until Volcorona went down. At that point, Dusknoir revealed its last trick, creating a weird gridded cube which surrounded the combatants. Immediately, both Adele and Sanae slowed down like molasses, while Dusknoir zipped around like a bug.

"What the…" Reimu said in disbelief.

"Trick Room," Lillie explained. "It twists the dimensions around the user. Pokemon that go slowly move fast, while fast Pokemon slow down."

"Great, fantastic," Reimu sarcastically said. She decided to recall Sanae and then think about the slowest Pokemon she had, which was a problem since up until now she had made sure to train all of her Pokemon to be quick on their toes to overwhelm the opponent and, most importantly, react fast. She shrugged and sent out Sasha, who at least had a type advantage over Dusknoir. Lillie, for her part, decided to keep Adele in, hoping her sheer crushing strength could be used against it, while Sasha attempted to cover her.

Dusknoir lunged at the two, with Sasha tanking a Shadow Punch meant for Adele. It responded by winding up a Brick Break. Reimu commanded Sasha to block the attack, which he did with a kick, before rising up and engaging Dusknoir to a Jotaro-style rapid-fire fistfight while Adele charged up Moonblast. At this point, Dusknoir reeled back, then launched forward with a powerful punch. Sasha bent himself backwards as far as he could to dodge the attack in bullet-time, before Dusknoir's face was met with Adele's Moonblast, strong enough to send it careening through the sky, only stopped by Hecatia recalling it, thus ending the fight with the Trick Room dissipating soon after.

"Impressive," Hecatia said leaning back. "That was pretty good."

"Hmph," Reimu grunted. "You were honestly expecting me to be to be a pushover? You should know I can easily translate my spell card experience to other kinds of battling."

"But to become so experienced in such a short time…" Junko shifted around. "Everything Reisen said about you was true."

Lillie stepped in. "Excuse me," she asked, "but are you two those goddesses from that story she told us where she went to the moon because you were trying to get revenge on someone?"

"That would be us," Hecatia boasted. "I am Hecatia Lapislazui, goddess of the three Hells." She split into three, with one blonde copy with a moon on her hat to her left, and a blue-haired copy with an Earth hat to her right. "Earth, Spirit World, and Moon," each one said, before recombining into one.

"And I am Junko."

"Wow…" Hau said, looking at Hecatia. Hecatia saw the boy seemingly staring at her generous and loosely-bound chest.

Hecatia coyly smiled. "My my, I never thought such a young boy could be so-"

"What a weird shirt," Hau remarked. And he wasn't exactly wrong, since she was wearing a shirt that said "WELCOME 3 HELL" on it.

Hecatia went stone-faced.

"Oh, don't mind him," Lillie said taking Hau aside. "Sometimes his mind just wanders, especially if he's in a new place." Hau pouted and tried to push her off of him.

"Are you… his sister, maybe?" Junko asked.

"Oh, no no," Lillie answered waving her hands. "We're just friends."

"Oh." Junko thought for a moment. "Then he is your boy-friend?"

"MEEP!" Both Lillie and Hau blushed and looked away again. "D-d-don't say that! We're not-"

"She doesn't see humans a lot," Hecatia explained. "So she's not good at talking to them."

Marisa whispered something to Reimu while this was going on. "Were these two knuckleheads really responsible for that incident?"

"Everyone I've ever dealt with is a knucklehead, including you," Reimu snarked.

Marisa shrugged. "Well, I guess it's just as Sanae said: there's no common sense here. Just didn't think it'd apply to people from somewhere else."

"Might have to do with not living in a 'normal' realm," Reimu suggested.

Elio stepped up to Junko and Hecatia. "So, I guess we're here because Necrozma is here somewhere. And you two have something to do with it?"

"Oh yeah, about that," Hecatia answered. "But before we get there, I guess some context would be important. I'm sure Reimu already told you all, but I'm sure you want to hear our side of the story first."

"Just make it brief," Reimu sighed. "We're kind of in a rush here."

Hecatia cleared her throat, then started, "alright, so a long, long time ago, there was this guy named Houyi and his wife, Chang'e, the Chinese moon goddess. There used to be a bunch of suns burning everything up, so he shot down all but one. But one of those suns fell on Junko's son, killing him. He also killed Apollo and made it so there were no shadows in Hell."

Junko added to this, "that bastard and his bastard wife…" she clenched her fist and teared up. "I killed him, and have been seeking to kill Chang'e ever since."

"She… used to have issues," Hecatia explained. "She made herself a being of pure rage in her quest to kill Chang'e. She's a bit more mellow now that we've actually done it, but-"

"Wait," Reimu cut in. "Isn't Chang'e a Hourai Immortal? Can't she not be killed?"

"Well, yeah," Hecatia said, "that and she was locked up on the moon for drinking the Hourai Elixir. We came up with this plan to smoke out the Lunar Capital with life-force filled Hell fairies so we could reach her, but didn't expect them to try and retreat into Gensokyo, prompting you guys to come up and beat us up." She paused and continued, "after that, we were kinda mulling around, trying to come up with other ideas on how to get her, and more specifically how to make her killable, when this big, ugly crystalline monster comes out of nowhere and hears our problem."

"Necrozma, I'm assuming," Reimu said with crossed arms.

"Yeah, Necrozma." Hecatia continued, "so, Necrozma says it can neutralize Chang'e and take her power, effectively killing her. All it needs is her location and to be allowed to use her power as it wants. Junko, just wanting to kill her, quickly agreed, but I wasn't so sure. After all, I rule Hell, so I know a faustian bargain when I see one, and this seemed just a little too convenient. But Junko wouldn't shut up about it, so I caved and accepted its deal. Few days later, it comes back to us, this time with its claws glowing blue, as proof it killed Chang'e."

"I see," Reimu said. "So it converted Chang'e plus the Hourai Elixir into some kind of energy in order to power itself up, in essence imbuing itself with her power. The power of a moon goddess."

"Yeah," Hecatia told her. "So, obviously, Junko's thrilled that it's finally done, and asks Necrozma what's next. It took us through a wormhole to this place, where we're at right now, this replica Gensokyo, except it was somewhere in 'Ultra Space.' It told us it made this place with its bare hands, and wanted it to be an exact copy of Gensokyo. I asked it why it did this, and it explained that for whatever reason, this Gensokyo had to replace the old one in order to stabilize the Hakurei Border. The old Gensokyo would be sent off to a 'safe place,' the place it sent you to presumably. After that, the two of us basically had front-row seats to when it transported the old Gensokyo out of the Hakurei Border, then it instantly popped this new one into the border. And all it needs now, according to Necrozma, is for something to come in and give it light, and that's why it's been waiting for you guys."

Reimu looked around, then noticed Sunshine. She then looked back, and realized something: everywhere Sunshine had stepped, she left small tracks of green, healthy grass and flowers, and the bottom of her feet were constantly glowing.

"Sunshine," Reimu realized. "It wanted us to bring Sunshine here so she could give this place light. The natural light of the sun in this realm won't cut it: it needs special light only she can create, like how the sun in Alola caused that other me to gain color and personality."

Alice tensed up. "And if we're right about it making Sunshine… does that mean we've been playing into its hands the whole time?"

"Possibly," Reimu surmised. "There may be limits to what it can do, so it's been using us to fill in the pieces. Just because it can overpower the sages and the Great Dragon doesn't mean it's as powerful as it wishes to be." A chill went up everyone's spines at that moment. A being strong enough to soundly defeat the almighty Great Dragon, who wasn't even at its full potential at the time. Just what kind of opponent _was _Necrozma? And if Sunshine really was another of its kind, and they had Solgaleo to match the Lunala Necrozma had possessed, then what kind of power did they have at their disposal?

Reimu shook her head. "Regardless, we're here now, and we will make Necrozma answer for its actions." She turned to Hecatia and Junko. "Perhaps you two could lead us to where it is? I _may _let you off the hook if you're fully cooperative."

Hecatia nodded. "Alright then. Follow us." She showed them across the bridge, but before crossing Junko addressed Lillie.

"What an interesting dress you're wearing," she remarked.

Lillie looked over her shoulder awkwardly toward the dancers. "They… forced me to wear it."

"Ah, yes, Okina's dancers really are eccentric, aren't they?" Junko slyly said. "Her dress sense is as odd as ever."

"You know her?" Reimu asked.

"Let's just say we go back a ways," she noted. "In any case, I can see you're quite embarrassed by it."

"That's putting it lightly," Lillie said.

"Then I have an idea," Hecatia said with bright eyes. "I keep some extra dresses around. How would you like if I put you into one of them?"

"Sure," Lillie wryly smiled. "Anything that isn't this gaudy dress."

* * *

**_Welcome 3 Alola_**

"..." Lillie was not amused. Now she was wearing a similar weird T-shirt and plaid skirt as Hecatia.

Hau opened his mouth, before Lillie shot him a red-eyed death glare with a dark aura. _"Say anything and I will smack you." _

"Eeep!" Hau jumped behind Reimu once again, who couldn't help but giggle. "Oh, you two," she joked. "Even in other dimensions, you can't get along." Lillie pouted and turned away, prompting laughs from everyone except a rightfully frightened Hau.

Once they were all done, Hecatia led them across the bridge to the Human Village. Passing through, there were a number of villagers lining the streets, each eyeballing the group, some curiously, some cautiously. They were just as unnerved by the group as the group was by them. Reimu recognized many of the faces in the crowd, such as the fortune teller before he turned himself into a youkai, Kosuzu's family, some farmers, and the owner of the cafe where she had tried to go to on the day the wormhole sucked her up. Necrozma was even diligent enough to include mostly accurate animals, such as cats, chickens and rabbits.

Reimu and everyone else made sure to keep their wits about them, ready to send out their Pokemon swiftly at the first sign of aggression. At the same time, Reimu made sure they did not appear threatening. It felt ironic, Reimu thought, for her to feel like she was an intruder in the village, a mysterious threat that was as unwelcome and standout as a blatant youkai in the real Human Village. Of course, maybe that was also because of the posse she had brought along with her, including Sunshine, who seemed to be drawing the most attention out of anyone, with her footsteps of light and changing the appearance of the world around her as she walked along.

After a few minutes, they emerged into the forest trail leading up to the shrine, which was similarly quiet as the walk to the village. The trail was dark, but Sunshine led the way, conjuring a light ball and giving it to Ichigo to balance on the tip of her "wand" like a torch. As if to parallel the day where this all started, their path crossed by two fairies, same as the ones fighting over food on that day, but instead of fighting, they just stood there, observing them from the trees and slowly turning their heads to face them as they passed by.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, they made it to the foot of the shrine steps. Waiting for them at the bottom were Ultra Marisa and Ultra Alice, whom Reimu was quick to go up to and accost.

"I'm assuming you two are the Alice and Marisa Necrozma created?" she asked harshly.

"Eh?" Ultra Alice said in surprise. "What did we do? You're scarier than usual!"

"...huh?" Reimu asked tilting her head.

"It's okay," Marisa said stepping in. "Let's just say we, er, ran into them the other day. They're like, super confused right now, you'll prolly make it worse."

"Like you're one to talk," Reimu balked.

"But she's right," Alice responded. "These two… Sunshine gave them light. They're… almost like children at this point. They couldn't see color before, they don't understand the world around them fully… most importantly, they think they're actually us. They might think you're that other Reimu and she doesn't treat them as harshly."

Reimu put her arms to her arms to her sides. "I see…" She eyed them, and succinctly said, "but man, I thought it got me wrong. Since when did Marisa have red hair?"

"Hey, what's wrong with red hair?" said Ultra Marisa, with a notably more refined voice than her counterpart. "I think it looks cute!" She raised her arms up to stretch, which caused her to puff out her chest a bit… making it clear she was a little more "endowed" there as well. Marisa couldn't help but stare down and grumble, while Reimu chuckled at her displeasure.

"I think it looks nice," Hau said stepping in. "It's like you're her shiny color!"

Ultra Marisa looked at him, confused. "Shiny? I'm not shiny."

"I don't mean _literally _shiny," Hau smiled. "That's just what we call Pokemon that are different colors from the usual. Like her red Gyarados!" he said pointing to Reimu.

"I thought mine was also a different subspecies," Reimu said.

"...Ah," said Ultra Alice. "You must be the original Reimu." She crossed her arms and pouted. "You're quite abrasive! Our Reimu is much nicer to us!"

"Sorry," Reimu clicked twirling her gohei about. "But I'm the real deal. If you think I'm a bitch, too bad. That's just how I am." She looked up the steps to the torii. "She's up there, isn't she?"

"Er, yeah," Ultra Alice said nervously.

Reimu stared up at the torii far up the steps, her fist clenched, her heart beating a million miles a minute and sweat slowly beading on the back of her neck as her breathing tensed. This is it, she thought to herself. Everything has been leading up to this fateful moment. The future of two worlds hinged on her victory here, no matter the steep odds against her. This sort of thing was what she had been training her entire life to face, but she still could not help but feel nervous knowing that she was about to face something which had forced the Great Dragon onto the ground and stomped on its head with its metaphorical heel. Even with the aid of the legendary Solgaleo and Sunshine at her side, she wondered what she, a human, could bring different to the battle.

She turned around, looking at everyone with her. All of them, friend and foe alike, gave her that look and nod, letting her know that she had to do this and they were ready to back her up in any way they could. And then, she felt something grasp her shoulder. It was Sasha. The fully-trained and evolved Incineroar looked at his trainer, seemingly trying to remind her of the day they first met, just recently, when it was but a mere Litten. To have grown so strong and fast since then illustrated how strong their bond was, how capable of a trainer Reimu was, how skilled Sasha was and the trials and battles they had been through together since that day. To be here right now was a testament to the strength of that friendship, and those of the rest of her team. Not only that, but the fact that Hau, Lillie, Elio, Marisa, Alice, the dancers, all of them were out here with her showed her how good she was at forming strong bonds with others, that people she had met only recently were actually out here with her on this crazy mission, about to become part of history.

She smiled. It was the most beautiful smile she had given in a long time.

"My friends," she said. "Thank you." Her resolve renewed, she began the march up, and slowly, everyone filed behind her.

* * *

Emerging at the top of the steps, the first thing Reimu laid eyes on was her counterpart, whose eyes met hers. She had been waiting for her and everyone else. Which was just as well, as Reimu had business to settle with her.

"Looks like I've finally found your hideout," Reimu quipped. "Now then, do you plan on settling this like a proper lady, or do I need to play rough?"

Ultra Reimu stared back, intimidatingly, clutching her gohei as the others looked on. "I…" she started, then paused, before reaching and getting out a piece of paper and reading it, like it was her script. Reimu put her hand in her face at this embarrassing sight that took all the tension out of the air at once. After a moment, she put the script away and looked at them once more.

"Greetings," Ultra Reimu said in an overly dramatic tone. "My master has been expecting you and-" She caught sight of Ultra Marisa/Alice. "Oh, you two! They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No," Ultra Marisa said, "but you didn't tell me she was super rude!"

"_ Ahem _," Reimu coughed crossing her arms and tapping her feet. "We had kind of a moment going on here, could you please check your gripes someplace else?"

"See what I mean?" Ultra Marisa whispered as she and Ultra Alice walked to the side.

"Now then, just cut straight to the point," Reimu snapped. "Where is Necrozma?"

"I don't know," Ultra Reimu answered. "He said He was going someplace else for a little while and he'd be right back! He told me to test you once you came here?"

Reimu scrunched her eyebrows. "'_ Once I came here?' _Was He expecting our arrival? Please, tell me the truth if you don't want me to break my foot off in your-"

"Alright, alright! I get it!" Ultra Reimu said shaking her hands. "Geez… did they not teach you manners?" She reached down to pick back up an ofuda that she had dropped when she jumped… making it clear Ultra Marisa wasn't the only one Necrozma had "enhanced." Reimu struggled to remain stoic while Marisa was behind her snickering at the irony.

"I have to say, when I was holding off against the Great Dragon, I thought I was grass," she remarked.

"Rightfully so," Reimu sneered. "Blasting Yukari with Photon Geyser isn't something I can let slip. Just because she's irritating and double-sided doesn't mean I don't care about her. I'm sure the Great Dragon felt the same way. And if you don't want me to finish what the Great Dragon attempted, you will politely tell me what is going on and what your master's plans are."

"Haaah," Ultra Reimu sighed letting her arms down. "Well, as you can see and I'm sure you've already figured out, this is what He meant by replacing Gensokyo. He created an entirely new one within Ultra Space and put it here so that the border could be compatible with Ultra Radiation. As a result, the Border shall now last for all eternity."

Reimu crossed her arms again. "I find it a little hard to believe that's it's being totally sincere. For all I know, it just wants to take over the Barrier and twist it to suit its own alien needs for god knows why. And besides, the Border can always sustain itself on sufficient faith. That's my whole job, after all, to make sure it gets what it needs in order to stay up."

"That's exactly the problem, though," Ultra Reimu said. "I've never actually seen the Outside, but He explained to me that the rampant loss of faith and belief in the fantastic and gradual loss of hope on the Outside was causing the Barrier to irreversibly corrode, taking all the youkai and everything else with it once it inevitably collapses. That's why it's doing this, in order to safeguard the fantastic for millennia to come."

Reimu pointed her gohei at her double and said, "look, I came here because I want to make Necrozma speak for its actions with its own mouth, not let some lackey that it may or may not have lied to yak words at me. Now you summon your master here right this second, or else I'm going to have to make you, one way or another."

"Eh…" Ultra Reimu grunted. "Alright. Yes, Necrozma was expecting your arrival, just as you suggested. He's been monitoring you since your birth, keeping you out of harm's way, and looking over your entire journey up to this point. All this time, He's been trying to bring you up to be strong. And He gave me one more request before He showed himself to you."

"And what is that? A battle of some sort?" Reimu asked her, tapping her foot.

At that moment, Ultra Reimu swiftly sent out a Pokeball, out of which came… and Incineroar, just like Sasha, except it had an evil look and both a Totem aura and a strange shadowy sub-aura.

"He told me the best way to assess your strength was to have you battle yourself," Ultra Reimu explained. "Do you know your own team well enough that you can defeat it? This will be a one-on-one battle with no allies."

Reimu was a bit shocked: she had a perfect copy of her team, down to the skills and moves they used, and now she had to overcome her team, _with _her team, in order to win, and not only that but presumably all of them were permanently powered up as well.

"Ghch," Reimu grunted. "If her whole team has a Totem Aura… sure I can get past one Totem, but a bunch all in sequence and on my own?"

She felt a tug on her shirt, and when she turned around it was Sunshine.

"I… want to try something. With Stardust." She walked over to Stardust, who was getting ready to fight. She met it face-to-face, looked down, and closed her eyes. After a while, Stardust nodded.

"What is it?" Alice asked Sunshine.

"I was asking for Stardust's blessing to do what I'm about to do," Sunshine explained. "If we combine our powers, we can take down the other Reimu."

Sunshine stepped back from Stardust, held out her arms, and concentrated. The others stood back as she did this. Within moments, beams of light emanating from her, and she began to float in the air. Then, a hole burned its way through her dress, revealing a multicolored crystal, the same as the one in Rumia's head, erupting from her chest. The crystal floated over Stardust, before Sunshine disintegrated into several balls of light which shot toward and engulfed Stardust. Finally, the crystal slammed down onto the light, causing a brilliant flash which forced everyone to avert their eyes.

When they looked back, they couldn't believe what they all saw.

"What the…" Marisa flatly said. Everyone else was too stunned to say anything.

Emerging from the light was a figure resembling Stardust, but glowing and covered in various black crystalline parts, including two arms jutting out from its back, fierce-looking black claws, and a visored face with two antennas sticking out from it. It drew back before letting loose a deafening, distorted roar. True to Sunshine's word, the two had combined their strength, with Stardust lending its power to Sunshine and the little girl assuming control. As a final touch, a spectacular aura flared up, boosting its considerable strength to astronomical levels.

The Mane of Dusk, Sunshine.

Sunshine's first act was to slam the ground, causing numerous stones to erupt from the ground and rush toward Incineroar - Stone Edge - hitting the target before it could react and causing it to disintegrate into darkness.

"Huh," Reimu observed, "so they're just illusions, copied from my Pokemon."

Ultra Reimu then sent out Gyarados. Being the Water/Dragon variant instead of Water/Flying, it was the only member of her team not weak to something Stardust possessed… except _Sunshine _had Dragon Pulse, which she used by opening the lion's mouth and firing it at Gyarados, knocking it out and having it too dissipate into shadows.

"Nice!" Reimu cheered on. "Keep it up!" She didn't even have to issue commands; Sunshine seemed to know what she was doing.

"Good job, squirt!" Marisa similarly cheered.

It was mostly the same deal for the next three Pokemon Ultra Reimu sent out: both Magnezone and Lucario had Ground weaknesses which were capitalized upon with Earthquake, while Aerileon was taken down with a well-placed Stone Edge. The group all cheered and rooted on for Sunshine as she and Stardust tore through the opposing team.

"I see," Ultra Reimu expressed. "Sunshine possesses considerable power… just as would be expected from Master's equal."

"You mean creation," Reimu said back. "C'mon, we know already. It created Sunshine. The big question is why. Surely it wouldn't want to have something around that could stop it."

"I'm sure the answer is evident if you look at her tracks," Ultra Reimu smiled. And she was right: the battlefield was being painted with bits of lively turf against the dull dreariness of the landscape as Sunshine danced around the battlefield. "He can't give this place the light it needs. But she can. She wields the power of the Alolan Sun not found anywhere else, even in the Pokemon World. And now that power is combined with Solgaleo's. So her name is very apt."

"And Necrozma represents the moon and dark of night," Reimu responded. "More like a black hole, with how it sucks light right up." She stamped her foot. "But we'll burn away the night, and baptize it with the light of day!"

"Let's see you try," Ultra Reimu playfully taunted, finally picking up some of the original's personality. Tossing out her last Pokeball, it revealed none other than her signature Naganadel.

"Let me tell you something about Naganadel," she went on. "The realm it comes from was one which has no sunlight whatsoever. When Necrozma arrived there long ago, it drained away what little light there was everywhere it went. Of course the people living there feared and worshipped it as a god, even building a tower to appease it and grant it light so it could leave them alone. Poipole is a popular first companion in that realm, so they sometimes offered those as well. Naganadel here was one such offering."

Reimu tilted her head. "So, a starter Pokemon, same as Rowlet, Litten and Popplio?"

"Correct," Ultra Reimu said. "It's been at my side for as long as I can remember. We train together, eat together, sleep together and yes, fight together. One could say it's my familiar, my 'stand,' but I prefer to consider it my partner. In battling you, we came to hone our strategy more and more." She then held up a Z-Ring, one with a Firium-Z on it. "And now, my best strategy ever will be put to the test."

Sensing danger, Sunshine used her power to bring forth a blank Z-Crystal. She then headbutted it, causing power to pour into it until it transmuted into an all-new Z-Crystal… the Solgalium-Z. Reimu snatched it up, placed it on her Z-Ring, and flashed her new tool to the crowd.

"Very well," she dared. "The test has started. Put away your phones, take off your earbuds, no chewing gum or eating food." She started doing the Steel-type dance. "You have 30 seconds to live." Completing the pose, energy flushed into Sunshine, prompting a roar and a jump up high into the air, whereupon she began a mighty charge straight toward Naganadel.

"Not if I have any say in it," Ultra Reimu shot back, performing the fire-type dance and similarly powering up Naganadel. "Now, INFERNO OVERDRIVE!"

Naganadel charged up, then shot a column of searing flames which looked like lava at Sunshine. Meanwhile, mid-charge, Sunshine began to somersault, before spinning so fast she looked like a fast-moving metal ball with two sticks jutting out of the side, surrounded by a powerful corona capable of resisting any attack. The two forces collided, creating a loud _bash _and sending sparks everywhere. The flames were resisted by the corona, but a few sparks still managed to sneak in, fizzling out against the hard, crystalline armor.

The beam of fire started to push Sunshine back, but neither her nor Reimu were about to let Naganadel win out. Reimu pointed and shouted at Sunshine, "c'mon, you can do it! Plow right through it!" Along with the encouragement came another short burst of energy from her Z-Ring, enough to give Sunshine just the push she needed to slowly charge through the fire. Naganadel's attack weakened as the Z-Power wore off, further easing the force against Sunshine until, finally, she collided with it, creating a massive fiery explosion with metallic lights shooting out in all directions from it, Searing Sunraze Smash.

As the dust settled, Sunshine crashed onto the ground behind Reimu, while Ultra Reimu shot Naganadel a Full Restore before recalling it.

"Having equal capability means nothing without the same level of skill backing it up," said Reimu. "Which is not to say you're not a strong opponent; you did, after all, defeat the Sages, and are the only person in history to have directly faced off against the Great Dragon and not die. But my skills in battling Pokemon outclass yours, and without the blessings of your god your power is much less, like me. Thing is, I'm much better at fighting without them. You have much to learn if you want to be my equal."

Ultra Reimu looked up. "Outstanding. Your capability is as Master expected."

Reimu tapped her foot. "Now then… about what I was saying about you coughing up everything about this incident." She came forward, and pressed her gohei up against Ultra Reimu's forehead. "Now, spill it!"

"I don't need to spill anything," said Ultra Reimu.

"And why not?" Reimu sneered.

A distorted screech came from the sky, and everyone looked up.

"You said you wanted to hear it from Him personally, right?" Ultra Reimu asked. "Well, your wish is granted."

Soon after, an Ultra Wormhole tore open above them, and descending down from it, a creature with wings like dawn and covered in crystalline spikes and armor. Unfurling its arms, it faced off against Sunshine. The scene was silent but tense, and everyone just stood there in awe.

Rotom dutifully took down these two figures, knowing this would likely be its only opportunity to do so. On the left, Dusk Mane Necrozma. On the right, Dawn Wings Necrozma. Sun and Moon. Day and Night. Dusk and Dawn.

But more unclear… good and evil… or grey and grey?


	47. The Blinding One

Two gods. The Mane of Dusk and the Wings of Dawn. Each stared down the other for what seemed like an eternity while the mortals around them looked on with a mixture of fear and awe. Even Hecatia, the goddess of Hell, felt intimidated by these cosmic forces now before her. While Alice could not believe that her dollcraft could ever give birth to something which could jump between realities at will and whose power was far beyond anything her magical studies covered.

Only when Reimu addressed Necrozma was the silence broken.

"So," she started, "have you finally decided to stop running and fight?"

Necrozma took a second to respond. "YOU HAVE COME FAR, REIMU. THE LEGACY OF THE HAKUREI BLOODLINE IS SURELY ONE OF STRENGTH AND SKILL. MOM WAS CORRECT IN PICKING YOUR ANCESTOR TO BE THE KEEPER OF BALANCE IN GENSOKYO."

Reimu winced. "..._ mom _? You mean Yukari?" Then she gasped. "...don't tell me…"

"INDEED," Necrozma said. "LONG AGO, I WAS BUT A COSMOG, THE SAME AS NEBBY AND STARDUST. I WAS CHASED AROUND BY SPHERE DOOMERS TRYING TO EAT ME. IN MY PANIC, I OPENED AN ULTRA WORMHOLE, AND CAME TO THIS PLACE ALONGSIDE HER. OVER TIME, OUR POWER GREW, UNTIL ONE DAY, THE POWER OF THE MOON TURNED HER INTO THE FIRST YOUKAI, AND ME INTO A LUNALA. SCORNED BY HUMANS, SHE COMMANDED THE YOUKAI FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. THROUGH THAT TIME, I WAS NOT ONLY HER BELOVED CHILD BUT ALSO HER RIGHT-HAND BAT, MY WINGS HERALDING THE DARKNESS OF NIGHT UNDER WHICH THE YOUKAI THRIVED."

Everyone was absolutely stunned. This thing was Yukari's ally and adopted child long in the past? Shaping Gensokyo's early history to boot? Reimu's hands twitched. Why had Yukari never revealed this fact to her? That she had such a being as her familiar for so long before Ran and Chen?

"IN TIME, HOWEVER, BY POWER BEGAN TO RUN OUT. I HID IT FROM HER AS BEST I COULD, BUT I KNEW I WOULD SOON DARKEN AND PASS ON. AT THAT TIME, HOWEVER, THE LUNAR WAR HAPPENED. THE LUNARIANS FIRED THEIR MOST DESPICABLE AND DESTRUCTIVE SUPERWEAPON AT THE SURFACE, THE PHOTON GEYSER. ITS POWER DRAINED ALL LIGHT FROM THE SURFACE AND SHADOWED THE SUN, BEFORE FIRING A CONDENSED BALL OF LIGHT AT GENSOKYO. I USED THE LAST OF MY ENERGY TO DEFLECT THE BLAST AND SAVE JAPAN FROM CERTAIN DESTRUCTION. AFTER THAT, EVERYONE ASSUMED I HAD PERISHED." It paused before continuing. "BUT INSTEAD OF DYING AS I HAD EXPECTED, I FUSED WITH THE PHOTON GEYSER'S POWER, ALTHOUGH NOT ALL OF IT. THE REACTION TRANSMUTED ME INTO THE CRYSTALLINE BEAST KNOWN AS NECROZMA. THE BLAST CAST ME INTO ULTRA SPACE, WHERE I DRIFTED POWERLESS AND UNCONSCIOUS FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS."

These revelations deeply troubled Reimu. She recalled Eirin making vague references to some sort of superweapon the Lunarians created to which she heavily objected and that was why she and Kaguya defected, but she didn't realize that not only was it actually used, it was during Yukari's attempted moon incursion to test their barrier. And it was called the "Photon Geyser…" That was the name of that attack that it and Sunshine could use. None of these details had ever been revealed to her or anyone else previously… why?

Necrozma continued its story. "EVENTUALLY, I DRIFTED THROUGH A WORMHOLE WHICH LED TO A DESERTED ISLAND OFF THE COAST OF MELEMELE ISLAND IN ALOLA. ALOLA'S TROPICAL SUN FILLED ME WITH LIGHT, REVIVING ME AND ALLOWING ME TO SEE WHAT I HAD BECOME. AT FIRST, I WAS SCARED AND FURIOUS OF THE MONSTROSITY I HAD BEEN TWISTED INTO. BUT SOON I DISCOVERED I COULD ALTER LIGHT IN ORDER TO ASSUME OTHER FORMS. I SENSED A MAN ON A BOAT COMING TO THE ISLAND, SO I USED THIS POWER TO BECOME A MAIDEN."

Elio put the pieces together in his head, then said, "that man, I'm assuming, was Prince Kamehameha."

"THAT IS CORRECT," Necrozma responded. "I WANTED TO APPEAR NON-THREATENING, AND LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WORLD IN WHICH I HAD LANDED IN. AND THAT MAN, THE ALOLAN PRINCE WHO UNITED THE ISLANDS UNDER MELEMELE'S RULE, SHOWED ME AROUND, TO ALL THE ISLANDS, ALL OF THEIR LANDMARKS, THEIR PEOPLE'S WAY OF LIFE. BECAUSE I WAS A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN, HE ALSO FELL IN LOVE WITH ME, AND ASKED IF I WOULD BE HIS QUEEN. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPROPER OF ME TO SO NO, SO I AGREED."

Again, the thought of Necrozma being dishonest about its true nature and tricking this man into marrying it disgusted Alice, and she wasn't alone: Lillie, Elio, Marisa, even Hau were off-put by something with that kind of booming voice of legion saying it had disguised itself as a young woman and went to marry a man. Only Reimu, who only cared about having Necrozma tell it all, remained stoic and determined.

"THE WEDDING WAS LAVISH, AND THE MONARCHS FROM ALL OF THE ISLANDS WERE THERE TO CELEBRATE THIS UNION. ALSO PRESENT WERE SOLGALEO AND LUNALA, AS WERE THE TAPU. BUT BEFORE VOWS COULD BE EXCHANGED, I COULD SEE THE BEASTS LOOK AT ME, AND THEN GLARE, AS IF THEY REALIZED MY TRUE IDENTITY, AND ATTACKED, CAUSING ME TO DROP MY FACADE AND REVEAL MY TRUE FORM TO THE CROWD, WHO WERE ALL HORRIFIED. I HAD TO DEFEND MYSELF, SO I ABSORBED LIGHT, BLOTTING OUT THE SUN. I THEN OPENED A WORMHOLE TO TRY AND DISPATCH MY OPPONENTS, BUT THE PRINCE WAS SUCKED IN INSTEAD. THE FIGHT WAS TAKEN TO THE SKY, WHERE THEIR COMBINED STRENGTH BESTED ME AND BANISHED ME BACK TO ULTRA SPACE. I LEFT ALOLA BEHIND, AND SPENT THE NEXT CENTURIES WANDERING THROUGHOUT SEVERAL DIFFERENT REALMS, TRYING TO FIND GENSOKYO ONCE AGAIN. I ALSO ATTEMPTED TO FIND THE PRINCE TO UNDO THE DAMAGE I HAD CAUSED, BUT FAILED BEFORE I KNEW HE WOULD HAVE PASSED ON."

"But you eventually found it," Reimu said.

"YES. I ARRIVED HERE JUST BEFORE THE GREAT HAKUREI BORDER WAS CONSTRUCTED. BUT I REALIZED THAT I WOULD BE REJECTED IN MY CURRENT STATE. EVEN IF I USED MY ABILITY TO PROJECT MY OLD APPEARANCE, I KNEW MOM PLUS SEVERAL OTHERS WOULD HAVE THE ABILITY TO SEE STRAIGHT THROUGH IT. AS MUCH AS I WANTED TO SEE MOM AGAIN, I KNEW I COULDN'T. BUT I STILL WANTED TO BE HERE, THE HOME I HELPED DEFEND LONG AGO. SO I CREATED A NEW FORM, BOTH FAR REMOVED FROM MY OLD APPEARANCE AND CREATING A COVER FOR MY NEED TO FEED ON LIGHT. I ALSO CREATED AN ALIAS: RUMIA. I WAS SATISFIED. SOON AFTER, I WITNESSED THE BORDER BE CAST, THE LAND SHIELDED FROM THE MALIGN INFLUENCE OF LACK OF BELIEF WHICH CAUSED YOUKAI TO DIE OUT. I LIVED MY LIFE THIS WAY FOR OVER A CENTURY, WATCHING OVER THE LAND FOR ANY THREATS TO IT."

Necrozma's speech paused again, as this information was absorbed. "THAT THREAT PRESENTED ITSELF OVER TIME. I SOMETIMES VENTURED OUT INTO THE OUTSIDE, AND SAW THE WORLD BECOME A BLEAKER PLACE: ONE FILLED WITH POLLUTION, CORRUPTION, WAR, ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION, THE LOSS OF FAITH AND THE INCREASING COMPLACENCY AND HOPELESSNESS OF THE MASSES. I KNEW THIS COMBINATION WOULD SPELL DISASTER FOR THE BARRIER. AND SURE ENOUGH, OVER TIME, ITS POWER WEAKENED, UNDER ASSAULT FROM THESE FORCES. HAD I DONE NOTHING, IT WOULD HAVE COLLAPSED WITHIN THE LIFETIME OF A HUMAN. I KNEW I HAD TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, AND I WAS STILL COMING UP WITH A SOLUTION WHEN IT HAPPENED."

Marisa was curious. "..._ what _happened?" she asked.

"AS YOU KNOW, FOURTEEN YEARS AGO, OKINA MATARA CAME OUT OF HIDING AND OPENED DOORS ALL OVER GENSOKYO IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE HER POWER. DOORS OPENED ON THE BACKS OF YOUKAI, TURNING THEM INTO POWERFUL MONSTERS. THIS INCLUDED MYSELF, SINCE SHE SAW ME AS NO MORE THAN A VERY WEAK YOUKAI. BUT THAT WAS NOT THE CASE. THE SUDDEN SURGE OF POWER WITHIN ME CAUSED ME TO SPASM OUT OF CONTROL, UNCONSCIOUSLY OPENING UP WORMHOLES IN VARIOUS DIFFERENT REALMS, THE POKEMON WORLD BEING AMONG THEM. THAT IS THE TRUE CAUSE OF THE DELTA CASCADE."

The Dancers stopped in place, dropped their items, and stared, realizing their master had been outed as the reason why Marisa had been taken from her home and dropped in Gensokyo.

"Okina…" Marisa seethed as she stared at her proxies, clenching her fist. She shook it off for now and turned back toward Necrozma; Okina could wait.

"SOON AFTER I RECOVERED, I REASONED I NEEDED THE ASSISTANCE OF THE HAKUREI SHRINE MAIDEN TO AVERT THE COMING CATASTROPHE. BUT WHEN I CAME TO THE SHRINE, I SAW YOU, YOUNG REIMU, GRIEVING OVER YOUR MOTHER'S BODY. I KNEW THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD DO WITH A CHILD. BUT RATHER THAN A LOSS, I SAW THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BRING YOU UP INTO SOMEONE WHO COULD HELP ME RESOLVE THIS CRISIS."

"How so?" Reimu asked it.

"BY TESTING YOU AND ANALYZING YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES. SMALL INCIDENTS AT FIRST; SOME FAIRIES RAIDING A CANDY STORE, OR A KAPPA KIDNAPPING A CHILD. BUT ONCE YOU WERE TWELVE AND YOUR TRAINING HAD ADVANCED, I MOVED ON TO INCITING LARGER INCIDENTS TO PUSH YOUR SKILLS TO THEIR LIMITS. I DISGUISED MYSELF AS A DEVIL AND SUCCESSFULLY CONVINCED REMILIA TO UNLEASH THE SCARLET MIST. I LED A DRUNK SUIKA TO CAUSE EVERYONE TO START PARTYING. I LIED TO EIRIN AND KAGUYA ABOUT THE LUNARIANS COMING DOWN TO GET THEM. I TEMPTED TENSHI TO MISUSE HER POWERS. I MOVED THE MORIYA SHRINE INTO GENSOKYO. I FOUND THE YATAGARASU CORPSE WHICH KANAKO FED TO UTSUHO REIUJI. I FREED BYAKUREN HIJIRI. I AWAKENED TOYOSATOMIMI NO MIKO. I STOLE KOKORO'S MASK OF HOPE. I INSPIRED SEIJA TO BEGIN HER REVOLUTION. I GAVE SUMIREKO USAMI THE OCCULT BALLS, INCLUDING THE LUNAR CAPITAL BALL. I PROVIDED KOSUZU WITH THE YOUMA BOOKS. EXCEPT FOR THE 60-YEAR INCIDENT, EVERY MAJOR INCIDENT OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS CAN BE TRACED BACK TO ME. AND MY PURPOSE WAS TO SEE HOW YOU DEALT WITH THESE INCIDENTS. IN EACH ONE, I NOTED YOUR STRAIGHTFORWARD APPROACH, UNCLOUDED BY DESIRE AND EMOTION, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY YOUR ABILITY TO FORM BONDS, WORK IN AND COMMAND A TEAM, AND MAKE FRIENDS. ALL THROUGHOUT, YOUR SKILLS WERE ALSO HONED BY PUTTING THESE INCIDENTS DOWN. I KNEW YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO AID IN MY PLAN TO SAVE THE BARRIER."

Reimu put her hands to her sides and tapped her foot. "Well, I'll be damned. Not only did you directly cause this most major incident, but you were ultimately behind all the other incidents which came before it these past few years, all to test me and gauge my ability." She thought for a moment, then realized something. "The Cherry Blossoms. I noticed you left that incident conspicuously out, yet you still claim you caused it. Care to explain?"

Necrozma drew their attention to the Ultra Radiation coursing through the barrier. "AN EARLY ATTEMPT OF MINE TO FIX THE BARRIER WAS TO INJECT IT WITH ULTRA RADIATION. AS YOU KNOW, ULTRA RADIATION IS THE ENERGY FOUND WITHIN ULTRA SPACE, AND ITS PROPERTIES BESTOW UNTOLD AMOUNTS OF POWER TO ANYTHING EXPOSED TO IT, BUT OFTEN WITH UNPREDICTABLE AND UNSTABLE RESULTS. I THOUGHT I COULD STRENGTHEN THE BARRIER WITH THIS POWER, BUT IT WAS REJECTED AND THE BARRIER TEMPORARILY MADE UNSTABLE, ENOUGH FOR A HOLE TO THE NETHERWORLD TO BE TORN. YUYUKO CAPITALIZED ON THIS TO TRY AND AWAKEN THE SAIGYOU AYAKASHI TREE AND GET REVENGE ON MOM FOR NOT AGREEING TO HER PLOT TO INVADE THE MOON AGAIN. AFTER THAT INCIDENT, I WANTED TO KNOW WHY THIS HAD HAPPENED. I CONCLUDED THAT ULTRA RADIATION IS MOST STABLE WITH A CREATION FROM WITHIN ULTRA SPACE. SO MY NEW PLAN WAS CLEAR: CREATE A BRAND-NEW GENSOKYO WITHIN ULTRA SPACE, AND REPLACE THE OLD ONE WITH IT. I DID THIS BY HARNESSING CHANG'E'S POWER. BUT I DID NOT WANT TO DESTROY THE OLD GENSOKYO. I SEARCHED FAR AND WIDE THROUGHOUT ULTRA SPACE FOR SOMEWHERE SAFE TO PUT IT. I FOUND THE POKEMON WORLD, FROM MANY CENTURIES AGO, AND DEEMED IT A SUITABLE REALM IN WHICH TO DEPOSIT GENSOKYO, DUE TO THEIR BELIEF IN MYTH REMAINING STRONG. AN ISLAND IN THE OCEAN WAS THE LEAST DISRUPTIVE OPTION, AND ALOLA WITH ITS LIGHT THE BEST LOCATION TO CREATE ONE. I SENT YOU THERE AHEAD OF THE REST OF GENSOKYO SO YOU COULD TRAIN FURTHER AND BECOME FAMILIAR WITH IT."

Reimu looked behind her at Sunshine. "And Sunshine? What about her? Your _creation _, I mean?"

"SUNSHINE SERVES MULTIPLE PURPOSES. FIRST, SHE WAS MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT CREATING LIFE; I COULD ONLY CREATE SOULS AT THAT TIME RATHER THAN PHYSICAL BODIES, AND THEN ONLY SOULS OF MY OWN KIND, THAT BEING A NECROZMA. I KNEW THE DOLLMAKER COULD CREATE A BODY THAT THE SOUL COULD INHABIT UNTIL IT WAS READY TO BE ENHANCED BY MY XERNEAS. SO I HAD A KARTANA INSERT THE SOUL INTO THE MOST ROBUST DOLL SHE OWNED. CREATING A LARGER BODY WITH MANY MAGICAL CAPABILITIES WAS MERELY A BENEFICIAL MISCALCULATION. BUT A TEST TO CREATE LIFE WAS NOT THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE." It's claw lit up, and it drew a sun and moon in the air in front of it. "I HARNESS THE POWER OF THE MOON. I ABSORB LIGHT IN ORDER TO POWER MYSELF UP. I CREATE NIGHT. I CAN CREATE LIFE. BUT I CANNOT CREATE LIGHT. THUS, MY CREATIONS ARE INCOMPLETE." It looked at Sunshine. "BUT SHE WIELDS THE POWER OF THE SUN, ABLE TO BLESS LIGHT UPON THIS LAND AND ITS CREATIONS. WITH HER POWER, MY MISSION SHALL BE COMPLETE."

* * *

Once Necrozma's motive speech had concluded, the silence in the air was so thick you could slash right through it with a sword. Reimu, for her part, could hardly believe Necrozma concocted such a convoluted and morally ambiguous plot for the purpose of saving Gensokyo. How it was a major player in its history, all the way back to its founding. How it supposedly cooked up all these incidents itself, just to test her abilities. It made her wonder if it truly had Gensokyo's best interests at heart, or if it was merely spewing bullshit so that she wouldn't try to kill it.

She drew her gohei aside. "I'll admit," she said, "you're great at telling stories, but you still haven't proven to me that any of it is true. Without Yukari here to corroborate you, I can't assume good intentions. That is what years of dealing with lying youkai have taught me. Even if Yukari were here, she's a master manipulator who can't be trusted. In any case, you have disrupted Gensokyo's order on a scale nothing else before you has ever done, even going so far as to become the only thing in history to defeat the Great Dragon in battle. But I can match your power, right here, right now. You won't escape from your sins."

Necrozma nodded. "YOUR TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE IS NOTHING LESS THAN I WOULD HAVE EXPECTED. THEREFORE, I PROPOSE ONE MORE TEST." Extending its wings and arms, it screeched out to the air, creating a shockwave which made everyone flinch.

"Gchhch," Lillie grunted clenching her teeth.

Hau looked up at the monstrosity before them. "Can we really beat _that _thing?"

Reimu clenched her gohei harder. "There's no reason we can't," she said. "Besides, it's trying to make us feel like we're alone. But we're not. If we combine our strength and fight together, we can win!" She turned around to face them. "This is what I meant when I asked you all if you were willing to end this with me and risk everything back at Aether Paradise. All of it. We can't back out of this now. History is being made, and we're smack in the middle of it. Now, are you going to back away, or are you going to fulfill the promises you've all made?"

There was silence for a moment before Lillie, Hau, Elio and Marisa rushed up to her side and sent out their Pokemon.

"This is what Gramps would want me to do," Hau said.

"Gensokyo isn't the only place it's disrupted," Lillie said.

"I'm not going to be intimidated by this thing," Elio declared. "I'm a master trainer, and this will be the ultimate test."

Marisa took a while to respond, before an angry expression painted across her face. "You tore my family apart and cast my mother into obsession. Even if you didn't mean to do it, that doesn't change the fact that you did it. I struggled for fourteen years, an ordinary girl in a land full of superpowered beings, gods, and man-eating youkai." She then smirked. "But you know what? In following Reimu around, becoming a witch against all odds, solving incidents that you created, those fourteen years forged me into a far tougher woman than I would have become had I lived a normal, happy life with my family. Yes, mother, Gladion and Lillie, we never got to live as a family and mother never saw me grow up. I may have missed out on completing my Island Challenge. I may have been robbed of the chance to become an honor student, get accepted into a prestigious college and carry on the family legacy. But I can either mourn those, or be proud of having been able to stomp a goddess's face into the ground, swat monsters on a routine basis that could rip a Hydreigon limb from limb, and make impossible things with normal stuff." She glanced over at Alice. "And I also found someone willing to look past my impulsiveness and see me for who I really am."

Alice was touched. Never in her years had she encountered someone as determined and strong as Marisa. Now that she knew the full story, Alice doubted that she could have been as resilient given the same circumstances. And the fact that Marisa was now almost on her level as a magician despite being several decades younger was enough to convince Alice that she had a wealth of untapped potential buried underneath that ridiculous witch outfit, backed up by the genetic tenacity, boldness, intelligence, stubbornness, vision and touch of recklessness that the conqueror line of Kirisames had blessed her with. Alice was pretty sure she wanted to see what more Marisa could accomplish.

And she decided she wanted a piece of that right now.

It was then that Alice whipped out an Ultra Ball, and revealed a secret she had hastily trained up following the group's departure from the island the previous day: emerging from the ball was a figure resembling an elegant archangel, whose rounded yet tender face was adorned with ebony hair, with wings made of metal feathers, apparent armor with a tabard depicting the sun, and holding a flower in one hand and a sword in the other.

"I found this while wandering the mansion's halls the other day," Alice revealed. "Apparently, the transition into this world affected religious paintings in Remilia's collection in a way that they brought forth Pokemon that looked like angels. I caught one of them, then went to Hau'Oli City and battled every trainer I could find to make it stronger until it evolved into this. Professor Oak helped me come up with a name for it: the Archangel Pokemon, Arcovenant."

Well shoot, Reimu thought. Now even a Pokemon that looked like the archangel Gabriel was getting her hands dirty. Surely things had become serious now.

"Heh," Reimu chuckled. "Well then, looks like you're outnumbered," she said taunting Necrozma. "Even if you are a god, I've got my team and those of five of my friends." She adjusted her stance, and dared, "now then, for the future of Gensokyo, I, Reimu Hakurei the keeper of the Hakurei Shrine and the Great Border of Gensokyo, shall cast you down straight to Hell!" She pointed and commanded, "Sasha, Darkest Lariat!"

At that moment, all of their Pokemon bore down on the crystalline god before them. Necrozma, however, turned out to be a resilient son of a bitch, taking the attacks of all six of its assailants and looking not very much worse for wear.

"Man," Marisa exclaimed, "it's endurance is higher than a hippie on an airplane!"

"Not only that," Elio observed, "but all attacks seem to be equally effective on it. We should focus on using our strongest moves to bring it down."

"Got it," Hau affirmed. He switched out Hedwig for Tauros and commanded it to charge Necrozma, when Necrozma made its first move, spewing flames from its mouth and bathing the battlefield in fire. Lillie commanded Adele to block the attack with a jet of water, holding it back long enough to allow Marisa's Misdreavus to get a shot in with Shadow Ball. Necrozma then switched over to shooting an Ice Beam intended for Tauros. Sasha flared up his fire belt in order to set his own fur on fire, tanking the Ice Beam and slowly marching forward, resisting the Ice Beam with his flames. Arcovenant used this chance to make her first move, charging up and releasing an Aura Sphere that disrupted Necrozma's attack. This inspired Reimu to switch in Lucario and direct him to use his own Aura Sphere, causing Necrozma's power to falter.

Necrozma shook it off and began to get serious. Gathering energy, Necrozma unleashed a burst of electricity that surged all around it. Hau sent out Raichu to absorb the electricity and try to direct it back at Necrozma; Reimu assisted him by sending out Magnezone to draw in the lightning. Both of them combined their power, Raichu using Psychic to form the lightning into a ball, which it then fired, ravaging Necrozma with an electrical explosion. This managed to paralyze Necrozma, something that everyone capitalized on.

"It's down and weak!" Reimu commanded. "Attack now!" Everyone's Pokemon assaulted Necrozma, with Misdreavus using Hex to score extra damage on Necrozma's addled state. After a minute, Necrozma got back up, dispelled the paralysis, then rose up high in the air. Then, it rocketed back down, punching the ground and unleashing a devastating Earthquake which even knocked over the trainers. Lillie's Salamence and Elio's Charizard Alduin came to the rescue, scooping up the other Pokemon and sparing them from the Stone Edges which followed the tremors. Then they dropped the Pokemon onto Necrozma, where they punched, kicked and bit Necrozma until it shook them all off.

Necrozma proved it had many tricks up its sleeve. It unleashed Hurricanes, which Reimu's Wakasagehime dispelled using her own Hurricane. It summoned and sent forth a wall of water, which Snowy froze using Ice Beam; Lucario then broke off parts of the ice and rushed up to Necrozma, stabbing it with icicle knives. In between blasts, Necrozma slashed, punched and even headbutted its opponents, demonstrating a level of skill and ferocity that seemed paradoxical. Despite being outnumbered, Necrozma proved to be too much for any one trainer to handle, forcing all six of them to combine their wits and skill to try and secure victory.

"We've got to find a weakness," Reimu said to the others. Her eyes glazed over Necrozma trying to find one such weak spot, where they zeroed in on its heart crystal embedded into its forehead. "There," she said. "See if you can focus an attack on that."

"It probably knows it's a weakness, though," Elio commented. "It'll guard it if we go straight for it."

Hau thought for a second, then came up with an idea. "We'll need to distract it," he said. "Like, have it focus on something small so that it doesn't notice something about to blast the crystal."

"Something small…" Alice wondered. Then she got a brainwave. Switching out Arcovenant, she sent in Murdoll. "Kite around it and try to draw its focus onto you," she commanded. Murdoll took off, knife drawn and ready to throw down against the crystalline monstrosity before it. It got Necrozma's attention by jabbing its chestplate, prompting Necrozma to concentrate its offense on the small, fast-moving target. Murdoll was at a severe disadvantage, being a Poison-type pitted against a powerful Psychic-type, but anything to serve its trainer.

Murdoll eventually ran up against a rock wall, where Necrozma pinned it down. Necrozma fenced Murdoll in by slamming the ground, causing rocks to fall all around it, before charging up and unleashing a devastating Prismatic Laser attack, creating a massive explosion which surely blew Murdoll to kingdom come.

Once the dust settled, Necrozma observed the corpse of the fallen doll Pokemon… before it transmuted into a busted-up Substitute doll, the real Murdoll having slipped out right before the rock slide.

Necrozma slowly turned around, just in time for a Flash Cannon from Magnezone to bullseye it right in the crystal.

The force of the attack caused Necrozma to double over in pain, holding its head like it just received a killer migraine.

"Howddya like THAT?!" Marisa grinned and pointed. "That's what you get for messin' with US!" She looked over to Reimu. "That Magnezone of yours is a hell of a shot!"

"Well, it does have three eyes," Reimu said. "It must have very good depth perception."

They cautiously approached Necrozma, who was looking down away from them. Reimu made sure not to make a sound, in case they provoked it.

"What should we do?" Alice whispered to Reimu. "Should we finish it off?"

Reimu studied Necrozma. That was when her aura senses rang again, making her wince and step back. That's when she sensed it. That's when she sensed a colossal amount of power amassing within Necrozma.

"No… GET BACK!" She jumped back, and so did everyone else, before Necrozma spun around, arms crossed and its eyes shining, before spreading its arms and its wings out and screaming toward the sky. In an instant, unimaginable levels of Ultra Radiation flared all around it, so much so it actually radiated forcefully around it, making everyone in the group trip and fall. Its claws glowed bluish-white, and crackled with electricity. The amount of power it exuded was so intense it threatened to make one's brain pop.

Reimu got back up and took in the horrifically powerful being before her. There were very few times in the past in which she was legitimately afraid of her opponent. This was one of those exceptions. Here was an opponent who had struck down the Great Dragon and who broke nearly every natural law that existed. And it was _pissed _.

Reimu's breathing was shallow and quickening. She was trying her hardest not to show fear, but she knew that Necrozma could feel it anyway.

Hau looked at the aura surrounding Necrozma. "Hey Reimu, it's just like last time. Use a Z-Move and we can dispel it!"

"Yeah, I think you're right," Reimu affirmed, holding up her Z-Ring… only for it to fizzle and spark.

"Wha-HUH?" she exclaimed. "What's going on?" Everyone else checked their own Z-Rings; they similarly sputtered out when they tried activating them.

"Crap!" Lillie exclaimed. "It must be shorting out the Z-Rings."

"It must have learned from last time," Reimu noted. She sent out Lucario and decided to use her keystone to see if she could at least still mega-evolve it, but that too had been disabled.

"Grr…" she gritted. "Just… just do anything! We gotta win!" And so everybody threw everything they had at Necrozma. Reimu even had the dancers use their power to draw out the strengths in their Pokemon. But… well, to say it was ineffective would be stating the obvious, as all their blows just bounced harmlessly off of Necrozma's body.

"Look at it…" Elio lamented. "It just standing there looking at us menacingly while we hopelessly attack it."

"Let's save our strength," Reimu ordered. "It might be trying to wear us out."

"Good idea," Lillie agreed, ordering Adele to stand down.

That turned out to be a big mistake.

Necrozma used the opening to rip open several Ultra Wormholes, and in the blink of an eye fired Prismatic Laser into one of them. Moments later, lasers shot out of each of the others, striking down everyone's Pokemon in one fell swoop. Sasha tried to use his Dark-typing to shield Adele from the attack, only for the laser to pierce them both and knock them down. It was the same case for the rest of their teams: Necrozma summoned and them formed a massive diamond sword from one of the wormholes and used it to cleave right through Wakasagehime, Pumpkaboo, Voodoll, Raichu, Snowy and Dragonite. Then it inflated its hand and took a punishing swing at Meiling, Misdreavus, Magnezone, Salamence, and Alduin. Desperate, Reimu ordered everyone to send out all their remaining Pokemon to assail Necrozma at once, only for Necrozma to gather energy and unleash an attack it had observed once, from afar on the sidelines of a battle for everyone's souls in another world: a shockwave filled with the power of a thousand Revelations, Megidolaon.

Arcovenant, being the master tactician that she was, had enough time to mentally jot down the attack's specs before being blown back by it.

* * *

As the dust cleared, a dirt-smudged Reimu, now with blood on her face, winched herself up, stumbled onto her feet, and stared at Necrozma, who stared back at her.

Getting up alongside her, Marisa said to Reimu "well… if we get outta here, I think I got an idea for my next spell card."

"Why are you thinking about that right now?" Reimu replied, annoyed.

"...cause I gotta keep myself from despairing, somehow."

Reimu said flatly, "stubborn in the face of defeat, as always."

The others got up and looked up at Necrozma, peering down before them. They all realized their Pokemon had been defeated. Even if they healed them, Necrozma would just knock them right back out. Now, Sunshine stood as the sole opposing force to it, but did not have the benefit of the extra moon-goddess power Necrozma had called upon to trounce them.

"Gaah… even with our powers combined, that wasn't enough?" Reimu seethed.

"THE POWER OF MANY REVELATIONS CAN OVERCOME EVEN THE STRONGEST OF OPPONENTS," Necrozma revealed. "YEARS AGO, IN MY SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT WORLD, I WITNESSED THIS POWER FIRSTHAND, WIELDED BY A GROUP OF YOUNG ADULTS SUCH AS YOURSELVES IN THEIR STRUGGLE AGAINST DEATH. YOU MUST HARNESS THE POWER OF MANY, OF ALL THE BONDS YOU HAVE FORMED, IF YOU WISH TO BEST THIS POWER. KNOW THAT YOU CAN NEVER WIN IF YOU STAND ALONE."

Reimu gritted her teeth. "But… I did stand with many… my friends… my Pokemon… but now, how can I…"

"Oh c'mon, you think we're just gonna let you lose like THAT, after everything you've pulled?" A voice suddenly came from behind the group.

Reimu turned around, and to her surprise…

"Guzma?" she exclaimed.

Guzma crossed his arms and laughed. "The hated boss who beats you down and never lets up… that's me. Not even time and space are enough to keep me from getting where I want to go." He was soon backed up by his trusty grunts, including Gladion and Plumeria, who all did their dance for him.

"This is for mom," Gladion declared. Selene held onto him, to his general annoyance. He shot Marisa and Lillie a smirk. The three siblings knew what was at stake here.

"Your battle style is amazing," said another voice, revealed to be Ilmia's, who filed through the crowd of grunts toward the shrine maiden. "I didn't want to see it be wasted because you were killed by this abomination." Soon, all the other trial captains came forward alongside him, all to cheer the group on and give them encouragement.

"Please do… _kick its ass! _" Lana said, first blushing, then flashing an uncharacteristic wide-eyed grin across her face.

"Show that thing the burning passion within your spirit!" Kiawe called out.

"Go ahead and whip up a recipe… for destruction!" Mallow dared.

Sophocles and Molayne walked up alongside each other and banged their fists. "Give it the shock of its life!" they said in unison.

"Show it to the spirit world, if you know what I mean!" Acerola told them wiggling her fingers.

Mina held out her fingers trying to frame Necrozma in a portrait. "I'm gonna paint the picture that'll accompany your obituary."

Reimu and everyone else looked around. "Wha… where did you all from?"

"Ho ho ho," Hala laughed strutting up the shrine steps. "It seems you aren't so alone after all."

"Gramps!" Hau exclaimed.

"Well, if it isn't my boy Hau!" Hala smiled. "I bet you never thought you'd see your old man follow you here!"

"I had to come support you as well!" said Olivia walking up alongside him, with Nanu not far behind.

"Don't look at me," Nanu said flatly. "They just dragged me here."

Finally, a Mudsdale carrying Hapu and Zinnia came up the steps and pulled up alongside the other kahunas. "You didn't think we'd just abandon you at the Altar, did you?" Hapu asked Reimu.

Lillie looked at the crowd. "I don't believe it… all the trial captains and kahunas… and…" Two more figures made their way up the stairs. "...the professor?!"

Professor Kukui came up to Reimu and tipped his glasses. "I gotta say," he said looking around. "This place looks like what I imagine Hell to be like. You really outdid yourself jumping right into something like this, cousin. But I knew you had it in you the whole time."

Reimu was astounded. "But… but how did you all get here?"

"You have your friend to thank," he smirked. And at that moment, Kasen rode in on a Dragonite, Okina manifested a door which she stepped out of and dismissed, and Yukari simply floated down from above with her parasol.

"...Yukari?" Reimu stammered.

Yukari chuckled. "Now, did you think I, a Sage of Gensokyo who has looked over you your whole life would not come to your aid at the hour of judgement? I simply needed more time to gather reinforcements." She waved her hand. "And I managed to bring the whole circus with me."

At that moment, there was a rumbling noise as the presence of many made itself known. Rising from below, the Palequinn Ship, commandeered by Captain Murasa and filled with the combined crews of Myouren and Senkai, loomed over the shrine, with Miko and Byakuren standing atop the bow, having buried their grudge long enough to face this common threat. Then the group of grunts and trial captains split and stood aside, as all of Gensokyo's greatest champions, charismatically led by a gohei-twirling Sanae Kochiya, marched up the steps, drawing their weapons upon sighting Necrozma. Up above, Utsuho Reiuji levitated up from behind them, spreading her wings far and wide, her Yatagarasu eye glowing brightly and atoms orbiting her. The piercing cry of an Yveltal heralded the angel of death itself, which swooped in close and dropped Remilia and Sakuya off onto the ground before joining Okuu in the sky.

Completing the scene, five lights dove down from the sky, down to the battlefield and ready to throw down against Necrozma. The four established Island Guardians, Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu and Tapu Lele. They were led by their new fifth member, the newly-christened Tapu Mo'o. For it, the battle against Necrozma was personal, and it sought revenge. For the others, it was an opportunity to remind Necrozma of its crimes and put it back in its place.

It was a sight that made Reimu's heart warm right up. All of Gensokyo, and the very best of Alola. Right here, right now, for her sake. Upon seeing the group, the three Ultras huddled into the shrine, not wanting to be ripped to shreds by these warriors.

"I still can't believe this," Sanae said coldly, perhaps in the most serious tone Reimu had ever heard from her. "I grew up playing Pokemon. I never thought I'd actually end up here in the Pokemon world. I guess it's only natural I'm here for the legendary battle too."

Satori reached out her hand. "Right now, I can see the overwhelming sense of dread building up within you," she said to Necrozma. "Perhaps you are not as almighty as you think you are."

"Gensokyo and the barrier are not your personal playthings," Tenshi declared drawing her Sword of Hisou. "This is how I have chosen to atone for my sins, you tempting scumbag."

Sukuna strutted up past the feet of the crowd. "I may be small, but I pack the power of a supernova inside this mallet, and the blood of sinners on my blade. Threaten Reimu, and you shall see no mercy."

Eiki raised her Rod of Remorse. "The crime: disrupting Gensokyo's order. The sentence…" she lowered it slowly and smiled. "...heh. Hell would be _merciful _."

Byakuren swished out her arm and declared, "by the power invested in me by the Buddha, I shall see to it that all evil is cast out of this realm." To which Miko added, "I would be doing Japan and my heritage a grave injustice by not facing this threat, even if it means risking my life and those of my followers."

Yomou drew her blade. "I will cut through your shadows and lies!"

Kaguya declared, "you may symbolize the moon, but no Lunarian would ever endorse your destructive actions!"

Remilia stepped up, and sneered, "the forces of night have a code of honor, one which you have run over with a steamroller, then blew up with an atomic bomb and shot the resulting glass with a minigun. I have a vampire killer in my ranks, and she is proficient in expelling other dark creatures as well." To which Sakuya added, "and if what Meiling told was true… then your list of sins includes genocide."

Finally, everyone with an Ultra Beast ally came up. Sekibanki with her Blacephalon. Yuuka with her Buzzwole and her Stakataka. Xurkitree shimmied up next to Satori. And Mokou rode in on Celesteela.

"Y'know," Mokou said tossing a butt aside, "thanks to you, these guys all found friends. Doesn't mean they're not pissed about being torn from their homes and wanting revenge on you."

"Care to speak for all the flowers you endangered oh so carelessly?" Yuuka smiled dissonantly. A green-colored Oricorio with dreadlocks hopped onto her head, and gave the same stare as her master. Stakataka's one eye looked on angrily, while Buzzwole flexed menacingly.

Reimu smirked, her resolve and confidence restored, and looked back at Necrozma. "Guess you found the wrong damn woman to mess with," she taunted. "You're right - my ability to form bonds is indeed strong. But perhaps too strong for your liking."

It was then that her Z-Ring clicked back to life.

Reaching into her bag, she took out all of her typed Z-Crystals and threw them into the air like confetti. Drawing on Solgaleo's, and now also Sunshine's, power, she floated up, and caught all eighteen crystals, which orbited around her like the rings of Saturn. Praying, she lifted her gohei, collecting the power of all eighteen types within it.

She looked over at Sunshine, who anxiously awaited her action.

Reimu couldn't help her giddiness. Even though she was a shrine maiden, for the first time in her life she was actually about to directly power up a god.

Her face contorted with pleasure and mania as a wide grin spread from ear to ear and her eyes widened.

Then, all at once and with a figurative bass-drop, she shot all that stored power from her gohei, the power manifesting as large colored orbs corresponding to each Z-Crystal. One by one, the lights enveloped Sunshine, who began to float and brighten. Reimu could see her brain crystal begin to exude once more before she was completely overcome. Once the last of the power entered Sunshine, Reimu landed back down and reclaimed her Z-Crystals. The ball of light enveloping Sunshine rose up into the air, where it shone brilliantly, forcing all present to avert their eyes.

When they looked back, when the light began to fade, it revealed a figure unlike anything anyone had seen before.

First, a dragon's tail made of light grew out. Then, the two clawed hands, which now acted as feet, poked out from below. Four wings spread out from within. An armored chest them emerged as the light receded upward. Finally, the light was re-absorbed into the body completely, revealing a draconic head with one red and one blue jeweled eyes. The dragon, made completely of light, drew back, then let out a piercing, glassy, metallic roar, which seemed to rattle the fabric of reality itself.

The Blinding One, Sunshine.

In one deft motion, Sunshine swooped, then gradually lowered down in front of Necrozma. Once situated, her trusty companions, Ichigo, Metang, Kartana and Diancie, emerged from behind her, all raring for a fight against the lunar abomination.

Alice looked at the scene in utter, dumbstruck disbelief. She remembered the day, seemingly not so long ago, when she made that doll. Just one of many countless dolls serving her will. Then it was given a soul, and gained awareness and intelligence. Then it became a doll-girl. Then a regular girl. Then she merged with a lion deity. Now, Sunshine had realized her full, unchained and ultimate form: Ultra Necrozma.

Marisa and Patchouli stood at her side.

"What," was all Marisa could manage.

"You can say that again," Alice replied.

Even Patchy was forced to make a confession. "Marisa… I take back everything I've ever said to you about how you could never be a true magician."

"Why?" Marisa asked.

"...because no amount of research I've ever done could hope to explain to me what the fuck it is I'm looking at right now." That singular "fuck" hit like a freight train, the only explitive either Alice or Marisa had ever heard Patchy utter in the time that they had known her.

* * *

Necrozma attempted to attack, but was quickly struck down by Sunshine's first move: Metang rose up into the air, and began to charge Necrozma. Sunshine fired Dragon Pulse at it, which it collected around its fist and combined with its signature Meteor Mash attack to punch Necrozma right in the face, a combo attack called "Draco Meteor Mash."

Next, Sunshine charged up Photon Geyser - difficult to do here, given the lack of light - while Ichigo conjured up a Shadow Ball. The Photon Geyser was captured by Ichigo's wand. Both light and dark energies swirled around Ichigo before she fired it, "Yin-Yang Dichotomy." This attack hit Necrozma's left arm, causing it to lose power.

Sunshine then unleashed a blast of hot air from her 10,000+ degree body, which Kartana caught up in a whirlwind it made by spinning its body around. The fiery vortex was then fired at Necrozma, "Hell Escalator." It singed and sapped power from Necrozma's right arm.

For the final move, Sunshine called upon her first ever technique, Power Gem. Diancie created numerous diamonds, ripping the carbon that they were made of straight from the CO2 molecules in the air, and positioned them strategically around Sunshine. The lights of the attack were directed into these diamonds, which brimmed with power before firing eight lasers into one, much larger diamond, which combined the smaller lasers into one superlaser. This devastating move, "Starkiller's Lament," struck Necrozma's chest, completely depowering it and leaving it at Sunshine's mercy.

Defeated, Necrozma ripped open an Ultra Wormhole and tried to escape. But Zygarde was having none of it. Appearing in front of Lillie, it shot out its Thousand Arrows, which pierced Necrozma and pinned it against a mountain. Zygarde then broke down into its many cells, which rushed up to Necrozma and reformed into tight, binding chains which could resist any force that tried to break them. Necrozma could do little but helplessly struggle against its captor. It was now completely at Sunshine's mercy; all that she needed to do was land the decisive finishing move.

"Sunshine!" Reimu shouted. "Necrozma's weak! Punish it for all the crimes it has committed!" Reimu gave Sunshine carte blanche to do whatever she wanted to Necrozma to take advantage of its current state. She didn't care if it was a death of a thousand cuts or one huge nuke, she just wanted the job done so that this incident could finally be ended.

Sunshine flew up high in the sky, leaving her Pokemon on the ground, and began to charge up Photon Geyser. Except this time, rather than launch it at its normal size, she let it grow past that, gathering as much light and power as she could to power up the attack, with some trickling out of the wormhole Necrozma had previously opened.

"Look!" Lillie pointed out. "Sunshine wants to use an even more powerful Photon Geyser."

Reimu looked up at the light orb forming above Sunshine's head. "It's not forming very fast though…" She turned to Professor Kukui. "Any ideas, professor?"

Professor Kukui thought for a moment, then came up with a thought.

"Perhaps if we fill her with Z-Power," he suggested. "Then we can turn whatever she's trying to do into a supercharged Z-Move!"

Gladion looked up at Sunshine, then told the professor, "but look at the size of that move. It'll short out any one Z-Ring and probably completely drain the person trying to power it up."

Kukui looked out to the huge crowd behind them, then smirked, "well then, I guess we'll just have to draw upon the power of as many people as we can get!" He called out to the crowd, "everyone! I want you to perform a Z-Dance in order to power that move up!"

The trial captains, kahunas and even the Team Skull grunts all knew what Kukui was suggesting, but the Gensokyo residents were mystified.

Reimu got up and faced the crowd, "look, if you don't know what to do, just look at the person next to you and copy their moves!"

The Tapu had come prepared for this exact scenario, propping a massive Sparkling Stone atop the roof of the shrine so that anyone without a Z-Ring could still supply Z-Power for the attack. One by one, those in the crowd began to perform dances, with Reimu ensuring that at least one person was doing a dance for each type for best results. The two dancers, Satano and Mai, also danced, drawing out the hidden power within each person present, effectively doubling the effect of each person's dance toward powering up the massive attack Sunshine was readying. This power steadily flowed into Sunshine, who converted it into more light to power up the massive light ball. Finally, Reimu gave it her all, performing the Psychic dance. The bond between her and Sunshine brought forth a massive amount of power, enough to cause Reimu to stagger once it had completely manifested.

As this was going on, Adele regained consciousness and pulled herself off the ground. Battered and bruised, she weakly looked up at Sunshine charging up her attack. Then, she caught a vision. No one else could see it, but it was as though a light was beaming through the clouds. The clouds parted, revealing the face of the sunglasses Samurott - her father.

He looked down, and she looked up. The scene was quiet, with the noise of all the Z-Dances drowned out as the two shared a father-daughter moment.

Then, he spoke.

"You got gud."

He then took off the MLG sunglasses and tossed them down to Adele, who caught them with her flipper before putting them on herself before the vision disappeared.

Now with her resolve reinvigorated, Adele started charging up Focus Blast. _True _Focus Blast, not the watered-down version that the TM taught, but the full, raw power of the move whose true capability could only be unlocked by a certain few, such as Adele. Trying to heighten one's mental focus enough to translate fighting spirit into the attack was usually enough to completely drain a Pokemon's vitality away, but the extra power afforded both by her lineage and the MLG glasses allowed her to tap into that full potential. As the ki ball grew and grew, Adele pushed herself to her limits. After this, she would be so strained that she would no longer be able to completely annihilate everything that crossed her path as she had unintentionally done many times before. But she would still be plenty skilled and strong, she and her trainer always considered the collateral damage an inconvenience, and in any case defeating Necrozma was far more important right now. Once the attack reached its full size, she gritted her teeth, resisting the force the ball was giving off, before launching it at Sunshine's light ball. Collapsing to the ground, she struggled to get back up as she ached, before Sasha extended his arm to help her up. The two locked eyes for a moment. Hedwig, off to the side, looked at them and winked. The two Pokemon looked back at each other and smiled. Sasha crouched down and held Adele in his arms while they watched the rest of the scene unfold.

The Focus Blast struck the light ball just as it gathered the last of the crowd's Z-Power, combining with it and causing the light ball to reach critical mass, now being several times the size of Sunshine and brimming with energy. And so, she was ready to fire off this most powerful of all Z-Moves - Light that Burns the Sky.

At the same time, Zygarde's cells let off the chains they had formed themselves into, recombining into its Complete Forme and grabbing Necrozma with its arm. It mightily tossed Necrozma just as Sunshine fired her attack. Necrozma barreled through the air uncontrollably towards the ball of light, before colliding with it.

Silence and darkness, before a brilliant explosion erupted in midair, and slowly began consuming the lookalike Gensokyo.

Throughout the land, "Ultra" versions of each of its denizens came out of their hiding places to observe the spectacle. Even the villagers were uncharacteristically calm as the wall of light approached them, before inevitably swallowing them.

Back at the shrine, the explosion was sending off blasts of air and shockwaves which made keeping balance difficult, not to mention the blinding rays. Most jumped behind trees, bushes and structures as the light approached, but others were more selfless: Okuu came down to Satori and Orin and used her wings to shield them from the blast. Similarly, Yveltal covered the mansion's residents with its wide wings while looking down; some Team Skull grunts managed to hunker down near them, with Golisopod bracing Guzma against the wind.

Hau, Lillie and Gladion joined Marisa, Alice and Patchouli at the edge of the hill overlooking the blast. All of them stared off to the distance, completely mesmerized by the sight.

"Hau!" someone shouted. It was Hala.

"Gramps!" Hau exclaimed. "I can't believe you all came here!"

"Well, it wasn't wholly my decision," Hala joked. "Somehow, Yukari roped the Tapu into coming here and they each dragged us kahunas along. But I knew you were here, so I came here to support you as well."

Hau smiled. "Thanks, Gramps." He turned back around. "I can't believe it. Just a couple weeks ago, I was getting hyped up to finally do my challenge, thinking and talking about all the amazing things I would get up to. But I didn't think I'd come to another dimension completely and see legends duke it out."

"I don't think it was a mistake at all," Hala told him. "It was destiny that brought you here to test your mettle as a trainer." He reached into his pocket, got a Fightinium-Z, and handed it to Hau.

"...huh?" Hau wondered. "But, I still haven't done your grand trial!"

Hala shook his head. "You don't need to. The fact that you're here today tells me everything I need to know about your strength." He looked over to Lillie. "And you, Lillie. I never thought you'd become such a fierce trainer."

Lillie looked over to him. "Well, I am a Kirisame after all… ze."

Patchouli facepalmed. _Not another one _, she groaned. Meanwhile, Marisa was a bit flattered on how fast she had rubbed onto her sister so quickly. While all Gladion could focus on was Selene squeezing him from behind.

Alice looked at Marisa. "If we don't survive this," she said, "I wanted to tell you… I love you."

"I know," Marisa said back.

The two held hands, pulled into each other, and kissed.

Meanwhile, the sages stood back, observing the blast, with Yukari in front of the other two. Dragonite held Kasen in close like an overprotective dog.

The only thought that crossed Yukari's mind as her dress once again whipped around was, _I hope that blast wasn't mortal _. A single tear ran down her cheek.

Struggling to keep her footing and covering her head with her arm, Reimu attempted to look on at the blast, before being knocked over by a wind gust.

"Whoa!" she yelped as she flailed her arms and hit the ground… only to be caught by Elio, just as she went down.

Reimu shot Elio an annoyed look while he smiled earnestly down at her.

The blast was getting louder.

The two stared at it. It was now practically in front of them.

Apprehension gripped their faces.

The two leaned in closer to each other, Reimu unconsciously putting her hand around Elio, as the wall of light overtook them.


	48. Lost Stars

…

Yukari opened her eyes, and gasped. Recovering from her haze, she recalled what had happened.

The Lunarian response to her incursion into their barrier was far harsher than she had anticipated. Sure, she had expected a strong response, given the Lunarians wished for complete isolation from the impurity of the Earth below. But her purpose was relatively benign: she had been seeking a way to throw a barrier between Gensokyo and the rest of the world, in order to safeguard the youkai living there from the outside world. Testing their barrier would enable her to examine its construction and its weaknesses, so that she could build her barrier to similar specifications with patches to weaknesses built in.

But the Lunarian military brass was filled to the brim with irritable war hawks. And these hawks authorized the raw, overwhelming force of their elite forces to reign havoc over Yukari's youkai army. Many youkai were killed as a result, at the cost of only a handful of rabbit soldiers and no Lunarian civilians. Yukari lie on the ground, bloodied, and looking up at the bright moon above.

A large, shadowy figure looked over her and into her eyes.

"...Starlight," Yukari said weakly. Her faithful winged enforcer and child, who had stayed behind in order to look after Gensokyo in her brief absence. The old Lunala helped her up and used its power to heal her wounds.

But looking after Gensokyo was not the only reason why Starlight had not taken part in the assault on the Lunar Capital. It didn't want to worry its mom by telling her this fact, but it was dying. After 2000 years, it was almost out of power, having willfully cut itself off from Ultra Space and the Ultra Radiation which usually fed its kind to hide its secret from her, and subsisting almost entirely on faith and the power of night. It was hard by outward appearances alone to tell that it was on its last legs, which helped it keep its secret about its impending mortality. But it had been loyal to its master and mother for two millenia, and it would be damned if she died now.

Starlight's wide, graceful and glistening wings cradled and shielded Yukari, as the two of them looked up at the moon from which she had been banished from.

* * *

The mood in the Lunar Capital was one of celebration and rage. Celebration that the youkai had been defeated and beaten back so easily, and rage because the populace had demanded further punishment to put the invaders squarely in their place. There were demonstrations in the streets, with the citizenry burning effigies of Yukari atop spears and carrying posters calling for the death of the youkai.

It was a mood which the hawkish Lunarian military had cultivated long and hard within the populace, rallying them against the enemies below to cover up their own corrupt deeds. And now the time had come for them to unleash their new, ultimate weapon upon the surface, a weapon whose power was so great it could rip a hole into the Earth itself.

The Photon Geyser weapon itself was mounted within a space station that orbited the Earth. From here, the station commander contacted Lord Tsukuyomi himself, with each seeing a projected image of the other from their respective locations.

"The checkouts and system tests have been completed," the commander said. "Shall we fire the weapon?"

Tsukuyomi raised his hand. "I grant you your permission," he replied.

Toyohime and Yorihime stood in the corner of the room, with Yorihime whispering to her sister, "fools. They know not what kind of horrific power they are about to unleash."

Toyohime looked around. "Where is Eirin? Wasn't she supposed to be here?"

"She said she had some things to take care of regarding Princess Kaguya," Yorihime said. "Personally I think she was just trying to boycott the weapon firing. I don't blame her; she voted against the weapon's completion and firing the same as we did."

None of this, of course, was heard by the station commander. After the hologram turned off, he turned around and gave the order to his men. "Commence primary ignition."

The weapon and the moon were now very close together, clearly visible from Japan below. Once the proper keys were entered, the cannon began to take in light, the fuel with which it powered itself. This light was absorbed both from the sun and the day side of the planet, darkening the sky and creating confusion and panic in that part of the world; the event would be immortalized in the many religions across the world as a shadowed day, with everything from Polynesian cultures to the Arab world having their own explanation of the event.

As the light gathered, it shone like a sinister star in the sky above Gensokyo. Yukari looked up, and understood what was happening: the Lunarian's dreaded weapon was about to be fired, and would wipe out all of Japan once it did. And it was all her fault, and there was nothing even she with her powers could do to halt or mitigate it.

As Yukari looked down and contemplated her final moments, Starlight looked down at her, and gave her that look. Yukari knew what it meant to convey.

"Starlight," she pleaded, "you can't do it! I forbid you from doing it! You will die!" But unknown to her, death mattered not to Starlight, for death would soon embrace it anyway. Rising up, spreading its wings and letting out its cry, Starlight took to the air, shooting straight up to the star of evil above.

"No!" Yukari shouted reaching up. "Come back!" COME BACK!"

Minutes after it had begun charging, the light ball at the mouth of the cannon had reached its full size, the temperature near it an atomizing 10,000 degrees. Troops, both Lunarian and Rabbit, in their sharpest outfits with spit-shined leather boots, stood in-line and turned to face the weapon.

A single pull of a lever fired the mighty energy ball at once, careening down toward the surface and whizzing past the naval vessels parked in the space and uppermost atmosphere above Japan.

Slicing through the clouds and up into the exosphere, Starlight came to a halt right in front of the incoming blast. Gathering the very last bits of its power, it fired a powerful Moongeist Beam to try and deflect the attack. The blast, however, was merely slowed, being far stronger than Starlight's beam. The blast beat through the beam and inched closer to Starlight's body, with Starlight struggling and ultimately failing to repel it.

That's when it made contact.

In an instant, where Starlight and the Photon Geyser's blast met, the sheer amount of energy pouring into Starlight's body prompted the opening of an Ultra Wormhole, which Starlight and some of the power retreated into. The rest of the blast exploded spectacularly, blowing back out into space and toward the near the explosion were instantly vaporized, their crews not even being able to perceive the sensation of having the atoms and molecules which made up their bodies be forcibly torn apart and blown into space dust. On the surface of the Lunar Capital, the light intensified, and with it came searing heat and ultraviolet rays which scoured the surface, scorching and setting fire to wooden buildings, melting metal roofs into slag, and warping street tiles. People caught outside when this happened were struck by the light like millions of superheated arrows, collapsing to the ground with blood curdling screams as their bodies were cooked alive.

Elsewhere, within her private quarters, Eirin was busily taking care of young Kaguya, when a deafening explosion rocked the walls. Eirin immediately knew what had happened, and without hesitation she took Kaguya under her arm and ran into a supply closet. Inside, she and Kaguya huddled up against the far wall atop a pile of boxes. Within moments, the deadly light crept under the door crack, causing Kaguya to shriek and bury her face into Eirin's bosom. Eirin herself shielded the little princess with her arms, in her head cursing the brashness and recklessness of the military which was now surely decimated while her face bore only an expression of wide-eyed terror.

After a few minutes, the light faded, and the two emerged into the outside world. What they saw horrified them: the city was ablaze, charred corpses littered the streets, and smoke and haze covered the sky and choked the narrow alleyways. Seeing the destruction which the weapon's blowback had wrought, Eirin resolved right then and there to escape, and to never return.

Grabbing three bottles of Hourai Elixir along with her research notes, Eirin dragged Kaguya through the streets of the burning capital toward her personal ship. As she did, maneuvering through the rubble and debris, Kaguya heard a murmur coming from underneath the wreckage. She tugged at Eirin's sleeve and pointed at it. "Yagokoro-sensei," she squeaked.

Eirin came over to where the murmur was coming from. Shifting away metal pipes and concrete blocks, she discovered a rabbit soldier, crouched in the corner facing away from her and sobbing. Reaching over slowly, Eirin patted the rabbit softly, prompting her to yelp and turn around, backing against the destroyed wall in fear.

"Hah, hah, who are you?" the rabbit gasped.

"Fear not, little one," Eirin said to her. "It is I, Yagokoro."

Hearing that caused the rabbit to hiss, "you're not gonna force me to fight again, are you?! I've had enough of this hell! Can't you see around you, the death and destruction your hubris has created?!"

"I do," Eirin affirmed, "but I assure you I am equally appalled. I voted against the weapon which created this. This destruction is unforgivable. And because of that, I am leaving."

"Leaving where?" the rabbit asked.

"To the surface," Eirin said. "We will be away from this hellish place there. And they will not come for us, either."

The rabbit had heard bad things about the surface from the propaganda the military put out, but she did not wholly believe the surface, even with its impurity, could be that bad compared to the constant war, torment and oppression rabbits like her endured here, where they had been subjugated by the Lunarians to fight their trivial battles. Now, one of the founding members of the Lunar Capital wished to defect. This could be her chance to turn her life around.

She grabbed Eirin's arm. "Please, I beg you, take me with you!"

After some consideration, Eirin said, "alright. Come with me, little inaba. I shall take you to a better place." She led the rabbit and Kaguya to her ship, where she fired it up and took off just as the hangar it was in collapsed in on itself, headed straight for Japan. While en route, she learned that the rabbit was none other than Yorihime's prized rabbit commando, Reisen. Eirin gave her the moniker Udongein, to help her distance herself from her tumultuous past.

On the surface, soon after Starlight took off to deflect the blast, the sky ignited, turning night into day and casting blinding light down into Gensokyo, forcing Yukari to avert her eyes. In the village, people ducked into their shacks. In the mountains, tengu and kappa dove into their caves. Once the light died down, Yukari looked up at the sky.

"Starlight…" she mumbled.

She collapsed onto the ground.

She began to weep.

High on emotion, she screamed at the sky, mourning the loss of her longtime companion, and her child, her grief inconsolable as she cursed the Lunarian generals who, in her view, murdered her child. And across the valley, the youkai were deeply impacted by the anguish coming from their leader, and the loss of such a powerful icon of their kind.

* * *

_Five hundred years later _

"Yukari-sama!" Ran chirped as she brought Yukari's tea to her room, only to find the door locked. Knocking on the door, she heard nothing, so she opened the door slowly, walking into her room.

"Yukari-sama? Your tea is ready," Ran said.

The room was dark, and Yukari was hunched over sitting on the side of her bed, the curtains drawn and sobbing quietly. Yukari sometimes acted like this, although Ran didn't quite know why; Yukari was such a charismatic and cunning leader, Ran couldn't understand what could possibly get her master this mopey.

"Please," Yukari murmured. "Leave me alone."

Ran bowed, placing the tea saucer on a table before quietly excusing herself.

Yukari contemplated the loss of Starlight long into the night, as she often did whenever the thought crossed her mind. She obsessed over it, in a PTSD-like fashion. She wondered what she could have done differently to save Starlight and not force it to do what it did. She blamed herself for everything that had happened on her watch, and it hung over her like a shadow. She hid it bravely in public, but in private these demons and shadows would haunt her, holding her back from her full potential due to the sheer guilt and despair it wrought on her mind.

...

Starlight's eyes flashed.

The first thing it saw was sand. The first thing it heard was ocean waves. The first thing it felt was the tropical sun's rays beating against its surface.

As light was absorbed into it, Starlight found the power to push itself off the ground… it looked at the claws with which it did so. They were crystalline. They were fierce, black and sharp. Two large spires stuck out of the back of each one.

As it gained the power to move around, it found its way to a pool of water. There, it caught its first glimpse of the grotesque shape it had been twisted into.

...the Photon Geyser. It must have merged with the Photon Geyser's power. That was why it appeared this way. Deep down, it could tell that the fusion was incomplete, leaving it a mangled, spiky mess of dark prisms that would terrify any being that laid eyes upon it.

Starlight shook its head, afraid and ashamed of what it had become.

Once it gained enough power, Starlight looked around the place it had found itself: a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. Starlight could feel it: it was in a different realm from the one which it called home. Somehow, it managed to pass through an Ultra Wormhole which had led it to this place. Without sufficient power, it could not return there to try and find its home, leaving it stranded here for a while.

Starlight eventually gained enough energy to experiment with any new powers it had gained. For all the abilities it lost - its Moongeist Beam, its ability to capture bad dreams, to cut through the air with crescent wings - it discovered one which replaced them: the ability to refract light. By twisting the wavelengths in the air, it could create illusions, make itself invisible, make itself seem larger or smaller than it really was. Eventually, it discovered it could rearrange its body and twist light to assume the form of other living things, an ability it came to use to hide from Pokemon trying to attack it, although most stayed away anyway.

A month passed, and Starlight made a little fortress for itself on the island, dug out of the ground in a place where it could absorb the most light possible, lined with coral shards and weathered stone. It spent most of its days meditating, feeding off of the sun's rays and soothing the pain the darkness of night brought it. It lived this way until one day, when it sensed a presence approaching the island. Probing their mind, it realized it was a man, coming to investigate a rumor others throughout Alola had told him. Starlight realized the man would probably try to kill it in its current state. So reading his mind further, it formed an image of what this man considered the ideal woman to be his queen, and assumed this form. Starlight then stood on the shore, awaiting the prince who would be rewarded with a beautiful maiden.


	49. The Beast who Calls the Moone

_ *kick* _

Reimu was stirred awake by a stiff punt to her back. Her mind was still hazy, and she groaned lightly as her consciousness came back to her.

"Ya two lovebirds done cuddlin' yet?" Marisa teased. Reimu looked across and saw her hands were still across a snoozing Elio.

"EEEK!" Reimu yelped, blushing and jumping up which jolted Elio awake, while Marisa pointed and laughed at them like a hyena. Looking around, Reimu realized the witch wasn't the only one peeping on them, as a ring of people had gathered around them and watched them nap together. Aya was already waving a photo between her fingers and grinning, no doubt hoping to publish it in her paper, Guzma grinned like an idiot, even Gladion couldn't resist the urge to chuckle at their embarrassing predicament.

"I-it's not what it looks like!" Reimu stammered.

"Oh really?" Marisa sneered crossing her arms. "It's painfully obvious to anyone he's got a crush on you. Lillie told me all about it. Why else would he go out of his way to dance with you at a twist dance contest? Or come see you after you killed that ski slope and then saved ya from falling to your death? Heck, he even came with us on this crazy mission just 'cause he wanted to see you fight! And you think you're just a tough miko who doesn't need anyone in her life, but the way ya held onto him like that tells everyone that you-"

"That's quite enough," Reimu interrupted. Elio, for his part, smiled awkwardly at the crowd that had gathered around them.

Getting up from the ground and brushing the dust off of herself, Reimu realized they must have dozed off while trying to shield their eyes from the light blast. Maybe it was just because of how warm it was from the blast, or the body heat of Elio next to her...

Reimu blushed again, trying to get that ridiculous thought out of her head.

She decided to distract herself by looking at her surroundings… she was awestruck.

The sky was baby-blue, with small, puffy clouds scattered about, and the sun high above casting its glistening rays down onto the valley. Looking out past the torii, the valley opened right up, from the verdant fields and forests, to the rippling, shimmering waters of the Misty Lake, the yellow flowers on the Garden of the Sun blending together into a yellow mat, crowned by a snowcapped, glaciated Youkai Mountain towering above it all. Birds chirped, fairies frolicked and played, foxes, deer, even bears wandered about, and Crested Ibises soared in the winds. The breeze gently blew her hair, as she stood at the edge of the stone staircase, taking it all in.

"So beautiful…" she said.

Lillie, Hau, Marisa, Alice and a few others joined her at her side to enjoy the view with her. No longer was this fake Gensokyo a barren, dark wasteland. It was light and pure, a fresh spirit with clear air free of the miasma that had built up in the real Gensokyo from all the prejudices and fear that had accumulated over the centuries.

It was a fresh slate. One which Gensokyo's residents simultaneously wished to have, yet felt unworthy of deserving, fearing they would pollute it with their vices and emotions.

"So this is what Necrozma meant by giving this place light," Lillie remarked. "It's like it has a soul now…"

The three Ultras came out of the Shrine, and once they laid eyes upon the new land in which they found themselves, they were enthralled.

"Woooooow…" Ultra Alice said in awe, looking up at the snow capped mountain above them. "It's so pretty!"

A cool breeze blew under Ultra Marisa's dress as the warm rays of the sun radiated on her skin. The contrast prompted a shudder from her, before she smiled and looked up toward the shining beacon in the sky.

Ultra Reimu walked up to the real one, Naganadel floating just behind her. "So… this is the power Sunshine packed, huh?"

Reimu looked over at her double. "Looks like it," she smirked. "You have to admit, it was one hell of an explosion. She has a lot of power compared to your god, all because she had the support of everyone here."

Alice gasped when she realized, "...where is Sunshine?"

**_*CRASH*_**

Everyone jolted when a loud noise and strong force crashed down on the ground in front of the shrine, rattling the tiles and even knocking some people down. When they turned around, it was Stardust, back to normal and carrying a limp girl on its back. Its mighty roar shook the ground and the air, making people cover their ears.

"Sunshine!" Alice rushed up to Stardust, with Reimu and the others behind her, and the onlookers watching curiously. Stardust leaned slightly in order to let Sunshine down. The girl slid down its side, and Alice caught her and laid her down gently onto the ground. She was unconscious, but as Alice could tell, mercifully still alive.

Alice patted over her body, trying to get a rise from her. "Sunshine?" she said worriedly. Marisa also looked on with apprehension. "Don't give out on me, kiddo," she gritted. Everyone else looked on, hoping that the girl would come to.

Sunshine's fingers and toes twitched.

"Mmph." A soft groan came from her mouth. She shifted around some more, before her eyes fluttered open, where Alice's face was the first thing she saw.

"Hey… how are you feeling?" Alice asked softly, putting a hand on Sunshine. She didn't want to rush it, knowing she would likely be dazed from her exertion.

"...I… I feel okay." Slowly, she pushed herself up, then brushed herself off. She shook her head, then her arms. She was a little wobbly, so Alice helped steady her.

"You hungry at all?" Hau asked. He reached into his bag and got out an apple-cinnamon malasada out of it, before offering it to Sunshine. Sunshine took it and practically sucked it down, surprising everyone around her. Within moments, her shaking stopped, and for all intents and purposes she seemed absolutely no worse for wear from the intense experience.

Sunshine turned to Hau, and smiled while bowing, "thank you."

"No problem!" Hau chirped. "Good thing I always come prepared!"

"You know eating a lot of those things isn't healthy for a growing boy like you!" Lillie playfully scolded.

Hau rolled his eyes. "Yes, _mom _." Everyone laughed.

Reimu smirked. "You know, Yukari might be right. You two do have an interesting relationship."

Lillie blushed. "I… I just try to make sure he's okay! He doesn't have a mother in his life, so I-" She stopped once she realized what she was saying. "Er… I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that-"

"MAHIA!"

Suddenly, a piercing shriek came from the sky above, as a large, elegant bat-like creature with golden rims and a night sky-like body swooped down near Stardust, blowing dust around as it flapped its wings upon reaching the ground.

The Beast who Calls the Moone, Nebby.

At first, everyone thought it was Necrozma again, but when they realized that Nebby was totally different, they backed down from trying to strike at it. Satori, in particular, identified it as the being Necrozma was possessing.

"...Nebby?" Lillie said, wide-eyed. Nebby reared back, and cried to the sky again.

Lillie rushed over, pushing Reimu aside and standing right in front of the graceful being before her.

"Thank goodness you're alright!" she exclaimed tearfully. "You had me worried sick!"

Nebby cried out again, causing Sunshine to turn her head.

"Nebby is trying to talk to you," she said.

Lillie, realizing Sunshine could read the minds of these beasts, was touched. She knew Pokemon could understand humans, but the reverse didn't usually happen other than just sensing what your companion was trying to say.

"Oh…" she smiled softly while blushing and crossing her hands. "...what does it say?"

Sunshine answered, "it's asking why you're wearing a weird shirt."

Lillie's expression practically read, _wat _. And after Sunshine revealed more of what Nebby thought and said, Lillie learned that Nebby had something of a loving jackass streak which was also the reason why it constantly tried to get out of the bag. It also revealed that after the initial possession, it spent a lot of time trying to get on Necrozma's nerves in hopes that Necrozma would give up and release it from its control, such as by bombarding it with "yo momma" jokes. This complete betrayal of how a legendary Pokemon was supposed to act was very jarring, to say the least.

Everyone thought this was very funny, of course. Reimu in particular asked Sunshine, "y'know, I wonder what my Pokemon think of me." And Sunshine just faced her, telling her, "Sasha loves you and thinks you're a strong trainer, but is still waiting for you to play spin-the-kitty with him."

..._ that _was way too awkward for Reimu's brain to process, as the thought of trying to spin a large, muscular cat-man on the floor invaded her cranium and refused to leave. Turning around, she saw Sasha grinning at her and wagging his tail expectantly, causing her to blush even more.

"Nyaa~!" came a voice from the crowd. It was Orin. The kasha ran up to Sasha and started hugging him. "Satori-sama, I found a friend!" Sasha was highly confused, because he didn't even know this girl that was hugging him.

"I see you have," Satori chuckled, "and what a friend he is".

"I know…" Orin's voice soon went from sweet to sultry, as her tails wagged expectantly. "Y'know," she grinned lewdly, "I got this itch a couple days ago, and perhaps this big, strong man could help me deal with it…"

Sasha pushed her away while shaking his head.

Orin was shocked, but then tried to tease him, "what's wrong, big boy? Am I too human-looking for you? I can assume another form if you want~..."

Satori giggled again. "Oh it's not that. It's just that he's already faithful to another."

Orin's ears folded while Sasha started visibly freaking out. In the corner of his eye, Adele was smiling and laughing. Sasha shook his hands desperately trying to play it down, but even the idiots in the crowd could figure it out… except for Okuu, who wouldn't know what romance was if shown Twilight.

"Ohohoho," Reimu teased. "Guess humans aren't the only ones who can have crushes." The crowd went up in uproarious laughter while Sasha nearly tore himself apart trying to appear tough and hide his embarrassment. Even Hedwig could sense it, spinning her head all the way around and winking at him.

As the laughter quieted down, Reimu declared, "well, I guess all this is a lighthearted end to another incident, just like always."

"I know, right?" Marisa said elbowing Reimu. "We just never get a truly epic ending, it always just gets dumb in the end and we end up having tea."

Then, a thud. Then another. And another, followed by several smaller thuds.

Everyone looked around, and saw what was happening: it was Necrozma's various parts, blown apart by the blast and dropping to the ground just beyond the shrine. The last part to fall was a jagged piece resembling the head of the dragon form Sunshine took, except black and depowered. A faintly shimmering crystal could be seen within the head. The Tapu dropped down and carefully approached the various body parts, inspecting them and making sure Necrozma was completely inactive.

"Is that…" Hau said, pointing at it.

Reimu crossed her arms. "It would seem so. Necrozma got what was coming for it. Now it's just a bunch of pieces lying on the ground." She whipped out her gohei. "I reckon it will be easy to finish off in this state." She began to march over to the head, hoping to shatter the brain crystal and put an end to this menace once and for all… before a strange force stopped her in her tracks.

"Hm?" she wondered, trying to wiggle around. "Why can't I move?"

"Stop," said a voice. It was Sunshine's. Sunshine lowered her hand, releasing Reimu and motioning her to get back.

"What are you doing?" Reimu asked sternly.

Alice shouted, "Sunshine! It might still be dangerous! Get back!" But these words fell on deaf ears, as the girl made it clear she had business to take care of. Standing in front of the parts, she swept out her arms, and commanded, "clear the way." The Tapu, unsure what to do but sensing Sunshine was about to do something big, quietly backed away and watched her closely.

Sunshine started by holding her hands together as if she were praying, then closing her eyes to focus. A light wind kicked up underneath her as she began amassing a large amount of power. Everyone wondered what it was she was trying to do, whether that was destroying Necrozma or, for whatever reason, trying to revive it.

Moments later, lights came down from the sun, and it was immediately clear that this sun was unlike the sun that bore down on Gensokyo previously, being more like Alola's special sunlight. The rays shone on Necrozma's parts, producing seemingly no reaction at first, before slowly flickering to life. Pulses of dull, yellow light coursed along the surface of the prisms, increasing in frequency until the glow became persistent. As the process continued, the glow grew in intensity until the yellow light flash, changing color to a bright platinum blue.

"What's going on?" Reimu asked. "What is she doing?"

"Iunno," Marisa said back. "Obviously, she thinks she needs to do this, otherwise she wouldn't be doing it." Not sure what else to do, everybody just kept watching her.

Sunshine's focus intensified, and after a moment, the parts began to levitate, starting with the head. The parts floated in a haphazard jumble at first, before Sunshine started forming them into a more coherent alignment, very similar to how she looked as Ultra Necrozma.

Reimu saw this, then it hit her. "Oh, I get it," she said. "The dragon is its true form, and it looked like what it did before because it didn't have enough power to assume that form, so it either just threw itself together into a workable shape, or possessed something else to get one."

Once the parts were in place, Sunshine prepared one final burst, intensifying the rays and focusing them into a beam centered on Necrozma's chest plate. Lights bled out from it, and as they expanded the light shaped itself into appendages connecting its feet, head and limbs, before ultimately shaping wings and forming a tail. Once that was done, Sunshine opened her eyes, broke her pose and threw her arms out, releasing the power and blowing a fierce wind in all directions. Before her and everyone else, Necrozma, having now attained its full power.

After Sunshine released control, Necrozma staggered to the ground, putting one hand down trying to steady itself. Once it managed to recover, it slowly got back up and floated in the air, looking down at Sunshine, who in turn looked up at it.

Reimu was about to speak up, when a voice called out "wait!" Spinning around, Yukari pushed, shoved and shouldered her way through the crowd, rushing up to Necrozma with a look of worry on her face.

"What is the meaning of this?" Reimu demanded.

Yukari, still panting, looked at her and answered, "I will explain everything." She turned around to Necrozma. "Starlight… I thought you had died back then!"

"THE PHOTON GEYSER," it explained. "I FUSED WITH ITS POWER, AND THAT IS HOW I GAINED THIS FORM."

Reimu came up to Yukari with her Ultra counterpart walking alongside her. "Yukari," she asked, "this thing claims you were its mother back in the day. Is that true?"

Yukari shook her head. "Yes, it's true. All of it is quite true."

Reimu was shocked. Everyone was shocked. This was a secret that literally no one was privy to.

"Why did you not tell us?" Kasen asked crossing her arms.

Yukari looked down. "Because when it died, it shook me so hard, it was debilitating. I scrubbed everyone's memory of it not long after the Lunar War when it was killed by manipulating truth and lies, which is why you all don't remember it even though you were alive at the time."

Yuyuko came out of the crowd and accosted her. "So, it's passing is the true reason why you wouldn't agree to my plan to invade the moon again, which is why we fought?"

"Yes," Yukari admitted. "I didn't want to invade the moon again because it reminded me too much of when Starlight died, and I couldn't bear to tell you about. And that's why I attacked you; I couldn't control my raw emotions in that moment."

Yuyuko huffed while crossing her arms. "Well, I still can't bring myself to fully forgive you… but, I do understand you. Losing a child can affect you heavily. How do you think my family felt after I killed myself?"

Hau jolted. "Wait, what?"

"That's Yuyuko from the ghost story," Reimu reminded him. "She's the princess who killed herself because of her powers, so that means she's a ghost."

"...oh," he said. He felt compelled to try and touch her to verify this, but realized that would be inappropriate, so he just took her word for it.

"I can apologize as much as you want later," Yukari assured her. "Right now, I want to speak to speak to Starlight."

Yuyuko rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said.

Yukari looked back at Starlight. "Well, I'm certainly glad you're still alive… but why? Why did you do all this, disrupt Gensokyo so much and causing all this collateral damage?"

"I WANTED TO PROTECT GENSOKYO," Starlight answered. "I LONG SENSED THE BORDER'S WEAKENING, DUE TO THE INCREASING BLEAKNESS AND LOSS OF FAITH ON THE OUTSIDE. IN DOING THIS, I HAVE ENSURED THAT THE HAKUREI BORDER WILL LAST FOREVER, POWERED BY ULTRA RADIATION SO THAT IT IS NOT SO RELIANT ON THE POWER OF FAITH ALONE. I ALSO WISH TO BRING LIGHT TO THIS WORLD, AND TO GUIDE IT OUT OF THE DARKNESS SO THAT CIVILIZATION CAN THRIVE, SO THAT LEGENDS CAN LIVE."

Yukari looked down, and conceded, "now that you mention it, I too have long had concerns about the border and how it could withstand the changing outside world. I didn't know how I would be able to fix it, and I hesitated to tell Reimu about it." She looked back up. "But this is a drastic action you have taken, and you put so much at risk in executing it."

"INDEED IT IS," Starlight replied. "I TRIED LESS DISRUPTIVE SOLUTIONS FIRST, BUT EACH ONE FAILED, BECAUSE ULTRA RADIATION IS STABLE ONLY IN THE PRESENCE OF A CREATION OF ULTRA SPACE. THAT IS WHY I REPLACED GENSOKYO WITH ONE OF MY OWN CREATION. I MOVED THE ORIGINAL GENSOKYO TO WHERE I DID BECAUSE FAITH IS STRONG THERE. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT I CARE ABOUT EVERYONE HERE LIKE IT WERE MY OWN FAMILY. I DESIGNED MY COPIES OF ALL OF YOU SO THAT THEY COULD LIVE HARMONIOUSLY WITHOUT CONFLICT, FEAR, BIGOTRY AND HATRED LIKE WHAT PLAGUED GENSOKYO BEFORE." As it finished, a few more "Ultra" copies of people came up the steps, and there were a few surprises: Ultra Kaguya and Mokou were holding hands like they were friends, both of them had darker skin than the originals, Ultra Kaguya had white hair instead of black and a blue-and-light blue dress, while Ultra Mokou had black hair and blue-and-black clothes. Ultra Sanae had yellow hair instead of green and a green skirt instead of blue, Ultra Kogasa had a blue umbrella and a purple color scheme, Ultra Utsuho had feathery white wings, white hair, a blue Yatagarasu eye and a robe with a tabard (and who also seemed far more intelligent and mature than her airheaded counterpart), and Ultra Cirno, instead of being an ice fairy, had green, wispy wings and power over wind, while Ultra Sanae justified her new color by raising her gohei up and shooting lighting, demonstrating power over electricity. Ultra Mokou, meanwhile, spun an ice crystal on her finger, revealing her to be the new ice user, while Ultra Kaguya similarly demonstrated fire powers with a blue flame on her fingertip.

Reimu eyeballed them all, and realized something they all had in common, besides their differing color schemes and appearances. Cannily, she asked Starlight, "you know, I wasn't going to ask about it, but seriously, what is it with you and breasts?"

Starlight declined to comment.

Reimu then turned to Ultra Mokou and Kaguya, asking them, "and you two, you seem all chummy over there, as if you weren't about to, say, rip each other limb from limb over the other's misdeeds."

The two looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, then Ultra Mokou (with a notably more "womanly" tone than regular Mokou used) asked "why would we do _that _? We both live in the Bamboo forest, we play games, drink tea, and hang out!"

The originals grimaced for a moment, wondering why on Earth any copy of them should ever be different. But, it did make sense in a way: these two were directly creations of Starlight, and so wouldn't have the history between them that the originals did, and therefore, no reason to hate each other. In a rare moment of agreement, they silently decided not to spoil it.

Cirno floated up to Ultra Cirno, and shouted "heya! I hope that thing made you just as strong as me!"

But Ultra Cirno replied with disdain, "well, He certainly didn't make me as boorish and moronic as _you _seem to be." The idea of a mature, serious Cirno almost caused a BSOD in the minds of all those familiar with the ice fairy. It was as if Starlight was intentionally going for as far from the originals as possible while still keeping their basic concept. It was rather endearing in its own way, seeing an Okuu who, aside from hating being called that, was graceful, wise and serene if a bit self-righteous (she spoke in Futo's archaic dialect with something of a husky, Russian accent), a Kogasa with Sekibanki's personality and vice-versa, a Yuuka who acted like a hippie, or Flandre and Remilia having swapped positions with Flandre being the weaker, refined and mature(ish) one while Remilia was the immature child whose powers had to be kept under chains. Since they were also speaking Japanese, Sunshine cast a field allowing everyone to understand each other. It was an interesting experience for all the Alola natives.

Reimu naturally asked Starlight, "why did you make them all so different?"

Starlight replied, "NOTHING CAN EVER BE THE SAME TWICE, AS NOTHING CAN REPLACE THE ORIGINAL. THE WORLD CANNOT GROW WITHOUT CHANGE. YOU WOULDN'T GET THE SAME TYPE OF DOG TWICE, BECAUSE THE REPLACEMENT CANNOT COMPARE TO THE ORIGINAL. I HAVE DONE THE SAME HERE."

"Makes sense," Reimu admitted.

"ALLOW ME TO SHOW YOU ALL WHAT I MEAN." Starlight then produced a light ball which grew in intensity until it flashed. Slowly, it floated toward Junko, who was still standing off to the side. As the light faded, it revealed a bundle, which landed in her arms. Looking down, she unwrapped it just a little. A small hand poked out and reached for her. Then, the face of a baby girl, looking up at her with beautiful green eyes.

Junko's heart grew eleven sizes in that moment.

"NOTHING CAN REPLACE YOUR SON," Starlight explained. "BUT OLD LIFE GIVES WAY TO NEW LIFE. I HOPE YOU WILL TAKE THIS CHILD AS YOUR OWN AND RAISE HER INTO A STRONG, INDEPENDENT WOMAN."

Junko was in tears as Hecatia held her close and looked at the baby.

"She's beautiful," Junko smiled. Really, really smiled for the first time in a long time. "This is all I could have ever asked for." The crowd congratulated her with their aww's.

Yukari smiled. "So… this is what you wished for. A Gensokyo that could go on freely, forever, in peace without any of the things it required before in order to exist, such as human fear of youkai."

"THE POWER OF ULTRA RADIATION ENSURES THAT THIS GENSOKYO CAN GO ON WITHOUT FEARS AND SUPERSTITIONS," Starlight told her.

"You have a big heart, as always," Yukari said. "I'm glad to see you never really changed from that ...but then, what of the rest of us?"

"I WANTED TO CREATE A WORLD FREE OF FEAR AND PREJUDICE FOR THESE NEW RESIDENTS WHO NEVER KNEW IT BEFORE THEIR CREATION. AT THE SAME TIME, I WISHED TO GRANT NEW LIVES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU ALL. I SPENT A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF TIME SEARCHING FOR A PLACE THAT COULD ALLOW YOUKAI TO CONTINUE TO EXIST. I FOUND THE PERFECT PLACE, A PLACE I HAD LONG AGO VISITED, IN ALOLA. THERE, IN THAT WORLD, THE YOUKAI COULD BE ACCEPTED. THEY MAY HAVE TO CAST ASIDE THEIR OLD FORMS, BUT IT WAS THE BEST OUTCOME FOR THEIR SAKES." It turned to face the Tapu. "I HAVE CREATED MUCH STRIFE, BOTH IN THE PAST AND NOW. BACK THEN, I WAS SCARED, AND MERELY TRYING TO DEFEND MYSELF. NOW, I AM TRYING TO DO THE BEST FOR MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY. I HOPE YOU WILL ACCEPT MY APOLOGY, AND I AGREE TO FIX ALL THE DAMAGE I HAVE CAUSED."

The Tapu approached it. And because of Sunshine's influence, for the first time, they spoke.

Tapu Koko spoke first. "Your casting the prince away caused the kingdoms to fall into disarray. But, given your history I could scarcely have done better in your position, and I applaud your efforts to make amends and right the wrongs you have left."

Next was Tapu Lele. "You have great power which you are now only learning how to use, and you have always intended it for good, even if your execution did not appear that way. I hope you continue to refine them and lead the world towards the light."

After that came Tapu Bulu. "You could not have chosen a better ally than Reimu. I daresay she is just as great as the prince before her, if not even better. She has potential which I hope continues to build and refine."

Tapu Fini spoke up, "you are very mature to state how nothing can be truly replaced. You cannot and should not bring back Prince Kamehameha. You can recover the damage you have done and mold someone who will fill his role, and you have succeeded in doing just that."

The last one to address Starlight was Tapu Mo'o, formerly the Great Dragon. Everyone expected him to have choice words for Starlight, considering what it did.

Tapu Mo'o crossed his arms. "I will be blunt: what you did was exceptionally foolish." He paused and looked down, then said, "but sometimes, you are only given foolish options. In those situations, where it is impossible to make an objectively right choice, what matters is how you decide to resolve the issue, and your willingness and ability to work outside of the box. I certainly did not think the Hakurei Border was an effective long-term answer to the crisis the youkai faced, but there were no alternatives at the time. I observed you as a worthy partner of Yukari who could assist in great crises; your sacrifice to defend Gensokyo so long ago was a truly commendable action. Had I known your intentions through your initially vague and menacing exterior, I may have even cooperated in your plans to ensure a smooth transition. But hindsight, as they say, is 20/20. I was a being of terrible power, and still am; I merely limit it out of respect for my new peers. But you possess even greater powers still, which allowed you to save Gensokyo in a most unorthodox way." He looked out toward the valley, and told him, "I hope you understand, in creating this new Gensokyo and its inhabitants, that you have assumed the role I once held."

Starlight nodded. "OF COURSE. THIS IS A LAND OF MY OWN CREATION, IT WOULD BE IRRESPONSIBLE OF ME NOT TO."

That was when Seiran, Ringo and Reisen came up to Starlight. "I heard you absorbed Chang'e's power," Reisen said. "That would also make you the new master of the moon rabbits."

Starlight thought for a moment, then responded, "YOU ARE CORRECT. I SHALL ALSO REPRESENT YOUR COMRADES AS BEST I CAN, AND GIVE THEM RENEWED HOPE AND RESOLVE." The rabbits agreed: with a new leader who was free and strong, maybe it could inspire their kin to achieve their long-held dream of gaining their independence from their Lunarian masters, a shining beacon of hope which they had before lacked and could rally around.

Alice asked the next question. "What about Sunshine?" she asked. "Why… why did you create her?"

Starlight answered, "AS I SAID BEFORE, I REQUIRED A BEING WITH THE POWER OF THE SUN IN ORDER TO BRING LIGHT TO THIS LAND. THAT COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN ANOTHER OF MY KIND USING SOLGALEO'S POWER. SOLGALEO EXUDES LIGHT FROM ITS SHINING MANE, AND THIS POWER COMBINED WITH SUNSHINE'S WOULD ALLOW THE REALIZATION OF THIS GOAL."

"Did Nebby and Stardust figure into this plan at all, or was it just a coincidence?" Lillie asked.

"THERE WAS NO COINCIDENCE. BOTH WERE COSMOGS I FOUND IN ULTRA SPACE WHICH I THEN RELEASED INTO THE POKEMON WORLD. AS A MATTER OF FACT, STARDUST IS DESCENDED FROM THE SAME PAIR THAT I WAS BORN FROM, WHILE NEBBY IS THE GRANDCHILD OF THE SOLGALEO AND LUNALA THAT HELPED BANISH ME FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. I DID NOT HAVE THE POWER TO CAPTURE FULLY-GROWN BEINGS, AND FRESHLY EVOLVED SPECIMENS HAVE MORE ENERGY THAN OLDER ONES. I KNEW THEY WOULD EVENTUALLY EVOLVE IN ALOLA'S LIGHT."

"Then why did you possess Nebby?" Lillie sternly pressed.

"YOUR MOTHER USING NEBBY WAS NOT PART OF MY PLAN, AND IN FACT JEOPARDIZED IT AS NEBBY WOULD LIKELY HAVE PERISHED, RELEASING ULTRA BEASTS INTO ALOLA AND ENDANGERING THOUSANDS. TO PROTECT NEBBY AS WELL AS ALL OF YOU, I HAD TO STEP IN AND POUR CHANG'E'S ENERGY INTO IT BEFORE BINDING WITH IT. THIS ALSO GAVE ME THE ENERGY NEEDED TO TRANSPORT GENSOKYO TO ALOLA MUCH EARLIER THAN I HAD PLANNED." Starlight paused. "THAT SAID, SHE DID CAUSE ONE WORMHOLE TO OPEN BEFORE I ARRIVED."

Marisa thought for a moment, before she realized, "so… mom actually did succeed in getting at least me back. What a lucky chance." She turned to Okina, who was standing nearby. "This thing claims that you're the reason I'm here."

"...so it told you," Okina replied glumly.

"You knew?" Marisa harshly said.

Okina took a moment to respond. "When I used my power to assert my presence, I felt something was very off, like I opened a door on the back of a tremendously powerful being posing as a weak youkai. And as it turns out, that's exactly what happened. I… putting the pieces together after so long, I realize now I am directly responsible for the 'Delta Cascade' the professors spoke of." She looked up at the three Kirisame siblings. "I am deeply sorry for splitting your family apart. I was the one who overloaded Starlight, so your blame lies with me, not with it."

Marisa replied, "...eh, you couldn't have known. If Starlight was good enough at hiding itself that even the three sages never noticed it was there, I can't totally blame you."

"It still sounds like what you did was selfish," Gladion scolded. "You of all people should know about unintended consequences."

"...yes, yes I should have," Okina conceded. "I had been in hiding for quite some time and merely desired to 'make a splash' if you will." She held out her arms. "I will accept any punishment you suggest. I feel it is only fair that-"

Suddenly, Marisa was dressed in the dancer outfit Lillie had previously been wearing.

Okina's mind went blank for a moment before she fell over with blood gushing out her nose, with a dumb smile painted across her face.

"Master!" Satano and Mai rushed over to her aid, her face pale and frozen in joy.

Both Sakuya and Marisa snickered.

"Sakuya, you're a sly bastard," Marisa said.

Sakuya grinned triumphantly. "Well, being a maid does get boring, and stopping time is useful for eavesdropping on all the hot gossip."

"Ah, so you're not as refined as you make yourself out to be!" Marisa snided.

"I am refined," Sakuya primly countered, "but you will agree that you must 'let your hair down' every once in a while."

"Yeah, but that sounds like something Aya would do," Marisa elbowed. "If I were you, I'd you'd use your powers to be an awesome thief!"

Sakuya lightly smiled. "Well now, how do you know I don't? After all, I keep a track of all the books you steal and make sure you're missing an equivalent number of drawers."

Marisa's face reddened. "...so THAT'S where they keep goin'!" She shook Sakuya repeatedly in rage, with Sakuya's only reaction being the smug look on her face.

_I hope she doesn't do that to me, _thought literally every girl and woman from Alola, who realized they had a super panty-thief on their hands.

"_ Getting back on topic, _" Alice said rolling her eyes, "what are your plans for Sunshine now that she's finished the job you created her for?"

"SHE'S ALL YOURS," said Starlight.

Alice's eyes widened. "R-really? What do you mean?"

"YOU ARE HER MOTHER, AFTER ALL. IT WOULD BE WRONG TO SEPARATE HER FROM YOU. I WANT HER TO BRING LIGHT TO THAT WORLD THE SAME AS I PLAN TO DO. PLEASE DO RAISE HER INTO A CAPABLE WOMAN."

Marisa stepped up and asked, "so does that you're gonna pay child support? Ya know, since you're the dad?"

Starlight was silent.

"I'm kidding," Marisa grinned. Then suddenly a light ball formed, which turned into a massive gold brick and crashed in front of the magicians, spooking them.

"I HOPE THIS IS SUFFICIENT COMPENSATION," Starlight asked, with just a tinge of playfulness. The glistening block of greed caused Marisa's mouth and eyes to water, as she reached out for it lustfully.

"That is for Sunshine," Alice scolded grabbing Marisa's collar.

"Aww," Marisa groaned. Some people in the crowd chuckled.

Finally, Reimu spoke up again. "Well… now I understand everything," she said. "Your past, how you saved the border, and how and why you wanted to give us all better lives… I'm sorry for judging you."

"YOU HAD EVERY RIGHT TO JUDGE," Starlight said. "I HAVE CAUSED MUCH DISRUPTION AND COLLATERAL DAMAGE."

"That's an understatement," Reimu snided. "But I'm glad you understand the effect of your actions."

Starlight approached her a little bit more closely, and looked down at her. "THAT IS WHY I WOULD LIKE TO OFFER A CHOICE, ONE THAT IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE TO MAKE."

Reimu spun her foot on the ground. "What is your offer?" she asked.

"SHOULD YOU CHOOSE, I CAN HAVE EVERY COPY I HAVE CREATED IN THIS REALM GO TO ALOLA AND LIVE OUT THEIR LIVES THERE, WHILE THOSE FROM THIS REALM CAN COME INHABIT THIS NEW GENSOKYO. I UNDERSTAND I HAVE BROUGHT MUCH CHAOS TO YOUR LIVES, AND NOT ALL OF YOU ARE WILLING TO MAKE THE CHANGE. THIS WAY, YOU CAN CONTINUE YOUR LIVES AS YOU ALWAYS HAVE, BEFORE THIS ALL STARTED. YOU WILL STILL BE ABLE TO ENJOY A BARRIER WHICH SHALL NEVER FADE AWAY AND BE PROTECTED FROM THE INFLUENCE OF THE OUTSIDE FOR ETERNITY." It paused, then continued, "OR YOU CAN CHOOSE TO STAY IN ALOLA. I OFFER THIS CHOICE TO YOU, THE SHRINE MAIDEN, AS THE ONE WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR GENSOKYO'S ORDER AND PEACE."

Reimu took her time considering this choice. On one hand, getting things back to normal was what she had set out to do from the incident's first day. And Starlight had a point: not everyone wished to live in Alola, where they would have to conform to that society's expectations and way of life, not least of which the unabashed human-eating and scaring youkai who would be forced to give that up if made to live in the Pokemon World. This way, she could resume her duty of the shrine maiden, and she could rest easy knowing that Gensokyo would have peaceful times ahead of it without danger of the Hakurei Border collapsing.

...but then she thought about Yukari's words, how people in that world were willing to accept the youkai for their quirks, how faith was strong there, how that world had light and promise. How the youkai could become even more powerful there as a result. Youkai didn't necessarily need to physically eat humans, just live off their emotions, so they could learn to adapt. She also thought about all the humans in the village, who lived mostly confined there their whole lives in fear of the monsters outside the town walls. They deserved a better life in a wider world, she reckoned. If nothing else, they deserved freedom from oppression that the youkai posed.

And then she looked around at all the Alola natives, all the friends she made, from Hau and Lillie, Gladion and Elio, to the trial captains and kahunas, the professors, even Team Skull, looking at her anxiously awaiting her answer. She had made such a huge, positive splash on their world: a master trainer, surfer, racer, skier… an inspirational image, a celebrity, a role model to so many. She thought about how many people would be devastated by her departure. There was also the fact that Marisa was finally reunited with her family and would likely want to stay there, even if Reimu accepted Starlight's offer. That girl was such an inspiration to her, even if she was stubborn and a character, Reimu just couldn't imagine life without her.

Plus, there was something about Elio…

"I appreciate your offer," Reimu said. "It would have been careless and irresponsible of you not to make it, after all you've done." She took a deep breath, then stood tall. "But I'm going to have to turn it down."

There was a gasp in the crowd, as the weight of Reimu's declaration hit them so suddenly. People chatted and whispered to the person next to them. Reimu and everyone else, all of them, were really going to stay?!

"I've come a long way and grown so much in a short time," Reimu said. "And I've had experiences unlike anything in my life before. That world has so many opportunities, it would be selfish of me to deny that to anyone."

Starlight was silent. For a moment, nobody spoke, still shocked by what Reimu had said.

"I KNEW YOU WOULD WISH TO STAY," Starlight replied. "I KNEW THAT, AFTER THE EXPERIENCES YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH THAT YOUR HEART WOULD WANT TO REMAIN IN ALOLA WITH YOUR FRIENDS FOR ALL TIME."

"Yeah…" Reimu did think about the weight of the words she just said. A major decision like that was difficult to make in a pinch, especially when hers wasn't the only life it would alter. Even so, she just knew in her gut that it was the right thing to do.

All eyes trained on her, Gensokyo's representative. These were people whom she had battled while solving incidents who were impressed by her sociality, her tenacity, and her nonchalance in the face of danger. Which was why they had all come here, right now, in a time of need. The fact that Yukari was able to rally all of them was proof that, for all her playfulness, manipulation and tendency to confuse her with riddles that the old girl still had her back, no matter what.

As for the Alola crowd, she could tell not a single one was unhappy with her choice. The way Hau's eyes lit up, how the professor crossed his arms and smirked, Team Skull doing their stupid dance poses (which it seemed Cirno had decided to join in), but most of all Lillie, who just stood there and smiled. And why not? Reimu had essentially given her life and her family back. And the way Gladion and Marisa both stood on either side of her, holding each other's shoulders and also smiling?

And then Sasha came up behind her and gave her a squeeze. Just recently, he was a tiny little Litten, yet thanks to her he was all big and strong and even had a girlfriend as well as girls trying to hit on him.

Reimu gave the most beautiful smile anyone had ever seen from her.

Yukari faced Starlight again. "You did good," she told it. "There were… bumps in the road, yes, and trials ahead to be sure, but you never once abandoned your love for Gensokyo."

"THANK YOU, MOM," Starlight said.

"Now, you know you're in charge of keeping the world together now," Yukari said waving a finger. "You're the master of Moon and Earth, so you have to hold those things together. That means no opening up Ultra Wormholes willy-nilly, impersonating comets to get people riled up, committing tax fraud…"

"MOM."

The crowd laughed once again, as this god with near infinite power was being scolded by Yukari like a little kid being told when their bedtime was. But it was also endearing, to see two ancient beings, mother and adoptive child, who had shaped Gensokyo into what it was finally be reunited. It made Ran and Chen, who were still in their Pokemon forms, feel more like the pets/servants that they were instead of really part of the family. Ran, at least, did not mind, as she had long sensed that there was one that came before that Yukari would not talk about, and here they were.

"Now be good now," she told Starlight. "The world is in your hands now."

"I WILL," Starlight answered. It turned to Sunshine. "I WILL MAKE SURE TO VISIT YOU REGULARLY TO ENSURE YOU ARE GROWING WELL. I EXPECT YOU TO COME VISIT ME ONCE YOUR POWERS IMPROVE."

Sunshine clenched her fist and nodded. "I will… dad." Alice couldn't help but tear up.

Starlight then levitated up into the air, looking up at the sky.

"Where are you going?" Yukari asked it.

"TO BRING LIGHT TO THE WORLD," it said. "THE WORLD IS FULL OF DARKNESS AND FILTH. I SEEK TO REVERSE THAT. AND I WISH SUNSHINE SHALL DO THE SAME." It bellowed a piercing metallic roar, before shooting up into the sky, soaring through the air on wings of light, before speeding into the horizon, disappearing as a twinkle in the sky.

* * *

Yukari looked at the sky longingly in disbelief, before collapsing on her knees, absolutely bawling. Others quickly came to her side to try and console her, including her servants who fluffed up her leg.

"Yukari-san?!" Kasen exclaimed.

"Yukari?!" Reimu said, holding Yukari's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Yukari managed to collect herself just long enough to get out, "Starlight's grown so much!" She buried her face in Reimu's chest. Reimu wasn't sure what to think. This was completely unlike the trollish, playful trickster that she knew. Giving her reassurances and comfort was… not something Reimu was used to doing.

"Geez… are you okay?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

Yukari backed off and looked up at her. "I'm… I'm fine. I'm just… so… I still can't believe it…" She looked off to where Starlight had flown off.

Reimu smiled. "I guess this is how mothers feel when their little angels grow up and go on to do big things. Except in this case the 'little angel' is essentially God."

Hala and the other kahunas walked up to them looking up at the sky. "You know, I never thought ol' Hala would live to see the legend come full circle," the old man said. "Nor see it unfold in this manner…"

"It seems as if this whole saga was the result of a series of coincidences," Kasen added. "Had any one thing never occurred, this historic moment would never have happened."

"Fate can take interesting turns," Remilia said to them. "One small incident sets off a series of events, some branching from others, that have great consequences in the end. A lost girl and a hunted child, both in the wrong place at the right time, and brought together here in this land on this world. A vastly improbable occurrence made possible by the strings of fate, one which made the events that followed - the creation of the youkai, the prevention of Gensokyo's destruction at the hands of the Lunarians, the legends of your world, the anointing of the first Hakurei maiden, and now all this - possible. These strings are the only things uniting this realm and the other, against all odds."

"Strings of fate…" Professor Kukui wondered. "...ah, so just like this Destiny Knot!" he said pulling out a red ball of yarn.

"...that is a childish comparison, but yes," Remilia sighed.

Kukui looked down and saw that Ran was looking up at him wagging her tails, fixated on the yarn, so he threw it, causing her to run and catch it with her mouth. It gave Yukari a chuckle watching her servant, an old and powerful kitsune, playing fetch just like any normal dog, before she turned back to the crowd ignoring her. After catching it, Ran looked around, and saw Gladion's Zoroark nervously shuffling around trying to avoid the crowd, when he looked over and noticed her.

The Destiny Knot produces strange effects on Pokemon that make them a little more… _amorous _than normal, an effect which combined with Ran's forceful personality, causing her eyes to light up with absolute desire and her tails to twitch around. Zoroark began to sweat, looking around trying to find an out to escape the lustful, overpowering vixen behind him, only to turn around and yelp before being tackled by her like a runaway freight train.

The scene was still full of people chattering among themselves about what the future had in store for them, now that Reimu had made her decision. How could they integrate into this world they had been thrown into just a few days ago and didn't even really know? Not to mention all the villagers still back on the island who had yet to hear this news? As low an opinion as many of the youkai had of humans, they still understood that being surrounded by serious people in suits whom they didn't know as opposed to fearsome monsters which they did had to be very stressful, combined with the shock of Pokemon being all around them, the modern world invading their traditional lives and being thrusted into an alien culture with different values and customs from their own.

"Err," Sekibanki asked Reimu, "are you sure this is a good idea? Won't the humans there get like, spooked by all of us?"

"I don't think you're spooky," Mallow chirped walking over to the rokurobubi. "I mean, just because your head pops off doesn't make you a monster. There's several Pokemon out there with that ability." At that moment, she removed Sekibanki's head and tossed it in the air… before it split into ten heads, circling around her.

"But what about… when I do this?" she dared.

"Then I just need an energy shot before I deal with the threat!" Mallow pulled out more of her hot sauce and drank it straight from the bottle.

All the heads dissipated while the original returned to Sekibanki's shoulders. "...I ain't messin' with that!" She said in disgust, prompting more laughs.

Once the laughs died down, Reimu explained to everyone, "as you might have noticed, and I certainly did, Pokemon world people aren't anywhere near as put off by strangeness as humans from our world are. Strangeness happens around them daily, and they just live with it. Actually, all that strangeness is central to their culture, and they wouldn't have it any other way."

"Yes, but youkai feed of human's fears and negative emotions," Mamizou countered. "Wouldn't we all eventually disappear if left in that world?"

"...I don't think so," Reimu replied. "If anything, these humans and everyone else will actually accept and admire all your quirks, since you're a lot like the Pokemon they're used to. In fact, they used to regard Pokemon in almost the same way before they learned to live with and alongside them. They're far more open-minded than humans in this world. Because of that, all the youkai will be given a new lease on life, outside the confines of this barrier keeping the deadly lack of faith out and free to roam a whole new world… as long as you don't _eat _humans, of course," she said wagging a finger.

Yukari turned to face her, smiling. "I doubt that will be a problem. The entire reason youkai prey on and eat humans is because they're like wild animals, acting on instinct. It's the ultimate conclusion of them eating human emotions, is eating their bodies. If they have no reason to do that in a world where humans appreciate rather than fear them, I don't imagine any of them other than low-power diehards would be unhappy to give that up for all the freedoms they would gain. Besides, my servants have demonstrated that youkai can shift into Pokemon, so they can live like that if they choose." She turned to face her servants, but only Chen was still with her dutifully. Meanwhile, Ran was off to one side, smug and smoking a cigarette with two spotted eggs in front of her, while Zoroark was embedded within a three-meter-deep Zoroark-shaped hole in the rocky hillside.

…

"I think I'll have to discipline someone later," Yukari said in an annoyed tone. "I forget how vigorous she can be around men." All Gladion could do was toss a Full Restore at Zoroark before recalling him, trying to avoid eye contact with the sage while some people stared wide-eyed.

"._ ..anyway _," Reimu awkwardly said trying to get back to the topic at hand, "you all get my point, right?"

The people in the crowd just shook their heads.

"Excellent," she chirped clapping her hands. "I knew you'd all consider it the right thing to do."

Hecatia looked at her watch. "Eh, if I'm no longer needed, I have a meeting with Thanatos here in about an hour that I gotta get ready for."

"You're dismissed," Reimu said. "I'm not really interested in punishing anyone right now." Marisa snickered, _oh how some things don't change. _

"My thanks. Junko, wanna come with?"

"Yes, of course." The new mother followed Hecatia down the path, when Hecatia suddenly felt a tug. Looking around, it was Clownpiece.

"Master," she asked, wide-eyed. "I don't wanna be away from you!"

Hecatia smiled. "Clownpi-chan, you're a big girl now, and I'm sure you can take care of yourself in that new world." She snapped her fingers. "I hereby release you from my control." A soft glow resonated around the fairy, signifying she was now free.

A tearful Clownpiece hugged her master, who hugged and patted her back.

"Even if I'm not there to guide you, I'm sure that shrine maiden will help you along, every step of the way."

"I… I won't let you down, master!" Clownpiece said tearfully.

Hecatia wiped a tear off her own face. "I know… you're the best fairy I've ever had." And with that, her, Junko and the baby disappeared into the wind.

A silent Clownpiece turned back to the crowd, whose eyes were now squarely focused on Nebby. Nebby cried out once more, this time seemingly directed at Sunshine.

"What's it saying now?" Lillie asked.

Sunshine didn't immediately respond, before walking up to Nebby. "Nebby says it wants to be at my side from now on."

Lillie's curiosity was piqued. "Oh?"

"Nebby wants to see me develop my power. It wants to be there to help me realize my full potential, to make sure I can be a strong guardian for all." She clenched a Pokeball. "But first, it wants to test me. Test the bond between me and my Pokemon to best it in battle."

The Kahunas were impressed. Never before had they seen a battle between a trainer and the legendary Lunala, and now here it was happening in front of them. The Tapu were similarly impressed, wanting to see the strength of both Nebby and Sunshine.

* * *

Everyone shuffled aside as the battle commenced. Sunshine threw out a single Pokeball, out of which came a Pokemon freshly evolved from the previous conflict with Starlight: the four-legged, serious-eyed supercomputer heavyweight known as Metagross, who stared down Nebby. Then, Sunshine put her hands together, collecting a huge amount of energy which swirled around her before releasing it all into Metagross, around whom a diamond matrix manifested before shattering and revealing a powered-up, floating being with huge claws - Mega Metagross, whose thoughts and actions became one with Sunshine's, and whose moves she could directly control. Everyone was astounded, how this girl could manage a mega-evolution without a keystone, and whose Pokemon likely displayed a titanic amount of power.

Nebby didn't waste time opening with Moongeist Beam, but Sunshine could easily counter this by combining Metagross's Meteor Mash with her own Dragon Pulse, allowing it to fly up and dispel the beam with its fist. It then let loose with Zen Headbutt - not to do any real damage, since Nebby of course resisted the attack, but rather to break the shadowy aura Nebby generated around itself that acted as an armor, and cause Nebby to flinch to create an opening, in which it used Hone Claws to make its claws deadlier and more accurate. Meanwhile, Nebby sought to harden its delicate wings with Cosmic Power to absorb Metagross's blows.

In addition to its powerful physical moves, Sunshine could also channel her own techniques through Metagross, although this required concentration and a moment of latency that left Metagross open to attack, meaning it could only be used whenever Nebby flinched. So Sunshine and Metagross developed a strategy, where it would use Zen Headbutt to fish for flinches, attack with Meteor Mash or Thunder Punch (its other move), then when Nebby was down unleash Dragon Pulse. Metagross danced around Nebby for a bit to figure out its other moves (Psychic and Moonblast) and once they established that Moongeist beam was its only real threatening attack they got down to business, and since Moongeist Beam had some charge time they could use that to maneuver if needed.

Metagross rushed Nebby in order to force it to fight fast and prevent it from using Cosmic Power or Moongeist Beam, instead forcing it to rely on its less powerful Moonblast and even softer-hitting Psychic, which Metagross was able to tank while delivering its punching blows with its four fists. As the fierce fight continued, everyone stood in awe of Sunshine's battling abilities, how she was able to channel her will through that of such a proud and powerful Pokemon as Metagross, enabling her to come toe-to-toe with one of the legends of Alola.

Eventually, after a long battle, Metagross and Nebby both were low on energy from taking repeated blows. Nebby tried one last attack to try and finish Metagross off, but at that moment, out of Nebby's notice, Sunshine produced a quite rare and valuable Pokeball, known as the Moon Ball. Curving the pitch, she spun around and tossed it right at Nebby, who noticed it and smacked it back with its wing, only for the ball to stop in midair, spin up and down in a sort of wheel, and lunge straight at the legendary moon bat, sucking it in and dropping to the ground. At this point, it was a matter of the capture sticking.

_*rustle* _

The audience looked on with anticipation.

_*rustle* _

Their breathing shallowed and their fists tightened.

_*rustle* _

Would history be made, the Kahunas wondered?

…

**_*CLICK*_**

All was silent, as Sunshine walked over to the Moon Ball, picked it up, spun it on her finger, then released Nebby from it, who let out a high-pitched cry upon doing so.

These avatars of Sunne and Moone, Solgaleo and Lunala, arbiters of day and night, were now in the hands of two of the strongest people to have tread across Alola's isles, both of them outsiders. A rare and momentous occasion witnessed by over one-hundred strong and capable fighters in their own right. Together, these two had confronted Necrozma and made peace with it, securing a future for many generations to come.

It was a moment worthy of a round of applause, which the two were given as they stood side-by-side. Joining them, Alice and Marisa, Lillie, Hau, and Elio, Gladion and Selene, the three starter Pokemon, Zygarde, Nebby and Stardust. A group brought together by circumstance who faced trials and tribulations to do the impossible. Just a couple of weeks prior, they were going about their normal lives, not knowing of the vast change that they would soon bring upon the two worlds from which they hailed.

* * *

As the clapping faded, Ultra Reimu came up to Reimu. "You're all pretty good," she said. "I wish I could be as skilled as you."

"Oh, no need to be jealous," Reimu answered, "like I said, you're every bit as good as me, if you can face the sages without trouble."

"Yeah," Ultra Reimu said, "when Necrozma's powering me up and I can summon a bunch of powerful Pokemon to fight for me." She kicked her foot a bit. "No, I want to be as powerful as you on your own, without needing to rely on all that."

Reimu shook her head. "I appreciate the thought, but the fact is, I've never fought on my own either."

Ultra Reimu looked up. "Come again?"

Reimu swept her hand around to all the people around them. "Look at all these friends and allies I've made. That's where my real strength lies. Sure, I may be able to fly, seal youkai and create barriers, but it doesn't matter how strong you are, because there is always something stronger. But if you can make friends and band with them, combine your powers, then you can pull off some really incredible things and share the glory together. The enemy wants to make you think you're alone. That's how they win. But you're never alone. Stick with your peers, and you'll always come out on top." She tilted her head. "You fight alongside Naganadel, right?"

Ultra Reimu looked to her right, where Naganadel was floating off to her side. She thought about her companion, back to the day she was given it, and how they trained and fought together. Just as much as Naganadel gave her an advantage in battle, it was her who had the patience and skill to raise it into a strong dragon to begin with, something it may very well have never managed to do on its own, showing Ultra Reimu that the connection went both ways. And she thought about her fellow "Ultras" gracing their presence, and how worthwhile it would be to get each other on the same side, sooner rather than later.

"I see," Ultra Reimu cheekily said.

"All I'm trying to say is, don't let power get to your head," Reimu told her double. "I didn't really realize this myself until recently, because I'm so good at naturally attracting people that I don't think about it, but you can't truly be at your strongest without fighting alongside someone. Even without all the friends I made, I still worked with the kami of my shrine, who lent me their powers and whose will I carried out."

Ultra Reimu then looked at her shrine, before looking back at Reimu. "Erm, you mention the kami of your shrine…"

"...something the matter?" Reimu asked her.

"...well, my shrine doesn't actually _have _a kami," she explained. "I've been given Necrozma's powers up until this point, but now that it's not here all the time I don't have anything whose power I can channel, nor something I can have to be worshipped."

Reimu rubbed her chin looking up. "Hum. Well, that's a problem. Without a kami, you can't use your powers to the fullest." She thought about how they could fix this problem. Perhaps one of the more "god-like" Ultras could be annointed to the shrine?

Then, she got a brainwave.

"Lillie," Reimu asked, "you said that Cosmog is the child of a Solgaleo and a Lunala, right?"

"Uh-huh?" she replied. "What are you thinking?"

Reimu smirked. Turning now to Sunshine, she asked the girl, "Sunshine, do you think you could talk these two into, erm, making a Cosmog for us?"

Sunshine took a moment to process this, not fully understanding what Reimu meant, before answering, "I can try." She closed her eyes, turning to Nebby and Stardust, seemingly communicating with them. After a few moments, the two beasts faced each other, let out their respective cries, and began sending out light from their bodies which converged into a small sphere. Sunshine assisted by drawing upon the power of Ultra Radiation - for the first time - and injecting it into the sphere, which burst into light and sparkles.

And from the light, came forth a bouncing, smiling baby Cosmog.

"Pew!"

It was a surreal sight to all, seeing these two legends combine their power to create new life, a new generation to carry on their legacy. Even the Tapu had never seen this happen before in their eons-long lives. Certainly, it was considered a great honor to witness the birth of a new legend.

Reimu gently picked up the little puffball and presented it to Ultra Reimu. "You'll take this baby god, won't you?" She asked.

"Wha… what is this, all of a sudden?" Ultra Reimu stammered.

"A kami, of course," Reimu smiled. "It might be a newborn now, but I'm sure you can raise it into a big, strong god worthy of being the patron of the shrine which holds up the barrier." Reimu kept holding out the Cosmog, who looked upon Ultra Reimu with a look of wonder and longing.

Reaching a shaking, nervous hand out, Ultra Reimu felt the little ball of stardust, before grasping it with both hands, and holding it in front of her.

"...Pew!" It shook around happily at its new mom. Ultra Reimu could practically feel her heart inflate.

Ultra Reimu looked the original in the eye. "Thank you. I will do my best."

"And I'm sure you will," Reimu replied. "You will be carrying the job I once had, after all." It sounded a little weird saying that, not just for Reimu herself but to everyone else that her duty as the border maiden had concluded, but it was a choice Reimu was willing to make for the greater good… and honestly, this is what her ancestors would have wanted.

Reimu turned to Sunshine. "Sunshine," she said simply, "take us home."

Sunshine nodded, then intensely focused on the space in front of her. It took some time to actually form the distortion, but soon the all-too-familiar buzzing sound resonated across the shrine grounds, before the distortion burst open into a sizable Ultra Wormhole capable of fitting everyone who had come here through it. Alice still couldn't believe it, that one of her creations had achieved not only sentience, but also godhood.

The first person to go through the wormhole was Sanae, who was nerding out like crazy. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" she exclaimed. "IT'S A MIRACLE I TELL YOU! I'M ACTUALLY GONNA LIVE IN POKEMON!"

Kukui asked Reimu in an aside, "is our world really a game outside this barrier?"

"I guess," Reimu shrugged. "I once listened to her going on at length about Pikachu long before I actually saw one."

More Gensokyo residents crowded through the wormhole, anxious to get back to their new lives, before Alola residents began mixing themselves into the line of bodies making their way through, while most of the Ultra copies dismissed themselves back to their homes. Kukui helped Reimu direct traffic, making sure no one accidentally ran over others (which almost happened when some Team Skull grunts shoved Wriggle aside), until the only ones left were the main players themselves.

"I'm going to go back home," Gladion declared. "...do you want to come with me?" he asked his sisters.

"Only if Alice 'n Sunshine come with," Marisa said. Lillie, for her part, was eager to discard her ridiculous getup, and so swiftly accepted. Alice swung back around with the Black Arwing (which Yukari had fetched for her) and offered Lillie a ride to get back to Aether Paradise that much faster, to which Lillie agreed. The two sped through the wormhole, with the others not far behind.

Elio then turned to Selene. "We should probably head home," he told her. "I'm sure mom's worried."

Selene looked at Hau. "You live just up from us. Would you like for us to take you home?"

"Hohoho!" came a big belly laugh. "Surely you don't think ol' Hala can't get his grandson home, do you?"

"Oh," Selene blushed. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Hala. I didn't realize you were still here."

"Oh, no problem," the old man told her. "But thanks for offering." So he, a smiling Hau, the other Kahunas and Zinnia all left, with Elio and Selene following behind them. The Tapu soon followed suit, with Tapu Mo'o taking a moment to get one last look at the world it would leave behind before doing so.

That left just the sages, Reimu, as well as Ultra Reimu, Marisa and Alice in front of the shrine. Before leaving, Yukari went up to Reimu to tell her something.

"Reimu," she said simply. "I have watched over the Hakurei line for countless generations, and never once has one single shrine maiden impressed upon me as you have. Your ancestors have all taken down both humans and demons which threatened to disrupt the balance of power in Gensokyo, and many lost their lives doing so. Not only are you the youngest ever shrine maiden to assume that role, but you managed to stand up to a threat of interdimentional proportions to safeguard what you love."

"Oh please," Reimu sneered sarcastically, "are you trying to ravish me so you can ask me out or something? Sure, it was a big-ass and weird-ass incident that was thousands of years in the making, but at the end of the day I was only interested in doing my job, come hell or high water. That is, after all, what you trained me to do." She looked at the wormhole behind her. "Although… it is really weird, and I guess sad in a way, that because of my decisions and those of Starlight, that not just my duty, but really the duty of the entire Hakurei line has ended… I guess it's just something I never thought would actually happen. I just kind of assumed I would just be one more chapter in a story that would go on forever, and yet…"

"Nothing ever really ends, young Reimu," Yukari said. "The end of one story merely gives way to the beginning of another. Your time as the keeper of the Hakurei Border has ended, but I'm sure there will be no shortage of incidents in that world that will need resolving, and because of your actions even the police will request your aid every time. And even if that isn't the case, you've opened up an entire new world of adventures for all of us and the people there."

Reimu looked at the ground. "I mean, _I guess _… but it's just not going to be the same. Do I regret my decision? Of course not. I've come to love that place, the people there love me, and this will be the best for everyone here in Gensokyo, myself included. But… as bad as the old times often got, there was still the magic of resolving incidents, flying around and tossing ofuda at things, dealing with fantastic creatures in a veritable fantasyland… you know? That's all ancient history now, and I don't know how I feel about it."

Yukari softly touched Reimu's shoulder. "Think of it this way: by solving this incident without your powers, you've proven you have outgrown them. Now you are an adult who can solve issues without magic. That is what the shrine's god was trying to tell you: you no longer require your powers, at least not all the time. Giving you your powers back would not have affected the incident's outcome at all, and you proved in the end that Stardust's aid was far more valuable."

...Reimu thought about it, and suddenly it made sense: she managed to solve this incident, which was far larger in scope than any before it, while barely using her shrine maiden abilities at all, instead getting by with her new Pokemon and human friends fighting alongside her. She already knew she probably wouldn't have used her powers even if she still had them, but there was a wide gulf between saving your energy in a minor fight and ultimately coming to face an entity which struck down the Great Dragon with next to no effort. It felt… oddly empowering, how _not _using her powers made her feel stronger and forced her to navigate the incident with only her own skill, strategy and wits. Which, in the end, was all she needed.

"...yeah… I guess you're right," she smiled.

"Guess my lectures have been getting through after all," Kasen snarked.

Reimu did an annoyed glace aside to her. "Oh… get outta here already, you one-armed hermit." The sages chuckled as Kasen did just that, hopping on Dragonite's back and flying through.

As Okina and her dancers stepped up, she turned to Reimu with an unsure expression. "I still feel the need to properly apologize to Marisa's family for all the damage I caused to them."

"Honestly, knowing them, I wouldn't sweat it," Reimu shrugged. "It's like she said: if Necrozma managed to keep its secret from you, a sage of all people, then I can't hardly blame you. Was what you did reckless in retrospect? Yes, and that's why my mom had to punish you. But if they want a proper apology, I'm willing to bet they'll just come asking for it themselves, because the Kirisames are a headstrong bunch. So no, I wouldn't lose sleep over it, but if it's really killing you that much, then maybe wait until the time is right and all of them are there before you do it."

Okina bowed. "I appreciate your thoughts. Your level-headedness is to be admired." And with that, she led her servants through the wormhole.

Yukari took a look at the sky. Reimu asked her, "something wrong?"

To which Yukari replied, "...I'm just taking one last look at this wonderful world before leaving it behind for good."

"You know this isn't the original Gensokyo," Reimu joked.

"I know, but I still can't help but look upon it anyway. I helped create the border and lead the youkai for thousands of years. It's difficult to leave that behind on such short notice." She thought for a moment, then said, "but I'm sure Starlight will take care of it well in my absence."

"Starlight is an extension of your influence," Reimu said. "I don't think your concerns will be ignored."

"True… true…" Yukari trailed off, before ultimately stepping through the wormhole herself.

Just before Reimu could leave, Ultra Reimu came up to her. "So… that's it, huh?"

"It would seem so," Reimu said. "I still can't believe how big this whole thing got in the end."

"Will I have to solve incidents as big as this one?" Ultra Reimu asked.

"Perhaps, or perhaps not," said Reimu. "It all depends on how well behaved the yayhoos living here are. And, of course, assuming no other dimensional monsters try to invade. As a Hakurei Shrine maiden you really have to expect anything and everything, and be ready to counter it."

Ultra Reimu thought, then smirked. "Well, I guess I _was_ literally made to do the job, since I'm replacing you and all."  
Reimu snickered. "Oh, I suppose. And don't forget: organizing parties for freeloaders is another big part of the job, so don't be a recluse."

"I won't," Ultra Reimu laughed. The two looked at each other for a long time, and bowed in understanding.

As Reimu walked through the wormhole, she turned around one last time and said, "this is just the beginning. You're the first of your line which history will judge. So please do your best to leave a good impression on future generations."

And with that, the red-white disappeared into the white void, which soon closed in a flash.

Ultra Reimu, Marisa and Alice just stood there for a minute processing what all had happened, the silence only broke by Naganadel grunting.

"You said it," Ultra Reimu said.

Ultra Marisa looked around for a bit, then suggested, "well, now that that's settled, why don't I make you all some tea?"

"I could go for a cuppa myself, sure why not?" Ultra Alice said in anticipation.

"Then it's a deal!" The three went back into the shrine, ready to brew Ultra Gensokyo's inaugural pot of tea, and toast to the bright future ahead of them, one marked by the Beast who Spreads the Light.


	50. The Revelation

…

…

"...been a week now… getting better?"

"...is stable… toxin should be removed…"

…

"...chance of brain damage, though?"

"The medicine… taken care of any long-term damage… checked her pupils, they are not dilated…"

"Should we administer smelling salts?"

"No, we should wait on that, we don't know what, if any, effect that will have."

Lusamine could sense herself emerging from the haze of unconsciousness. The first things she heard were two female voices close to her, although it took some time for her to clearly register what they were saying. The more she came to, the more her hands and feet twitched to life, and a small groan emanated from her throat.

"Oh, master, I think she's waking up!"

"Give her some space, Udongein. She may be delirious."

As her senses came back to her, Lusamine's eyes fluttered open, at first only seeing a bright light above her. As her eyes adjusted to the light, two fuzzy figures came into her vision. She managed to lift her hands up to her eyes and rub the sand from them. Once she did, she blinked a few times, and could clearly see the two people above her.

She wasn't too sure what to think at that moment. On her right, a woman in a red-and-blue checkered dress with long, silver hair. She was likely the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. On her left, a girl with red eyes, purple hair, a white jacket with a red tie, and… bunny ears twitching about?

The bunny-girl lowered down to her level. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked. Somehow, Lusamine got the urge to reach her hand out and tug on the ears to see if they were real.

"Ow! Ow! Stop that!" the bunny-girl complained as she stood back up… so, they were real and not just an accessory, she thought?

The silver-haired woman, presumably the doctor, looked at her next. "I see you have regained consciousness. Tell me, how do you feel?"

Lusamine managed to push herself up from the bed she was on, and looked around. It seemed to her that she was in some sort of rustic, oriental room with mismatched modern equipment to the sides and vials and beakers of strange chemicals on the shelves. Also, there was a second bunny girl playing with a small rabbit off in one corner, and through a partially open door she saw yet a third bunny girl in a pink dress running around. About the only recognizable thing in the room was the Chansey with a medic cap to the doctor's side, who offered her an egg.

"...am I dead?" She asked candidly.

The doctor laughed. "Oh heavens no, I assure you are quite alive, although I do understand the confusion."

"I mean… yeah, I'm surrounded by a beautiful doctor and a bunch of bunny girls," Lusamine observed.

"I am Eirin Yagokoro," the doctor said bowing. "And this is my assistant Reisen."

This was all coming to her way too fast, Lusamine thought. She then felt her head hurt a bit, causing her to put her hand on it.

"Ah, yes, that was a serious blow you recieved, your children told me."

Lusamine thought back as hard as she could, until she recalled the last thing she remembered doing before blacking out.

"...yeah… I was trying to open a wormhole and… I guess the force knocked me back." She paused for a moment. "...how long was I out for?"

"We took you in about a week ago, the day after you blacked out," Eirin told her. She walked over to a shelf and picked up a vial containing a lavender liquid. "We also found this in your bloodstream and extracted all of it. It would seem to be a very potent neurotoxin."

Neurotoxin… ah. She remembered. Those experiments they performed on Nihilego… some of that must have gotten into her and made her… insane. How it amplified her guilt and sorrow over losing her husband and daughter to that wormhole many years ago.

Lusamine shook her head. Thinking back to all the things she did to Lillie and Gladion as a result… would they ever forgive her?

"Miss, are you okay?" Reisen asked her.

"Oh," Lusamine looked up and shook her head. "No, it's okay. Thank you."

"Our pleasure," Eirin smiled.

Lusamine managed to get up off of the bed, with Reisen helping to steady her wobbly legs as she did. The inaba found herself blowing Lusamine's long hair out of her face, ironic considering her own ankle-length hair she had grown and taken care of ever since leaving the moon. Soon, Lusamine was able to steady herself, and Reisen could let go.

"I'm pleased to say you are perfectly healthy," Eirin told her. "We were just waiting for you to wake up."

Lusamine looked at the door. "Is… is my family here?"

"Oh, yes, I told them you would likely wake up today, so they're waiting for you outside." She showed Lusamine out the door and guided her down the traditional hallways of Eientei. Along the way, Lusamine caught a glimpse of Kaguya meditating in her room. She could only see the back of the princess, but Lusamine knew that such long, luscious hair concealed the face of a true beauty. Just where had she ended up?

At the end of the hall was a waiting room, and seated there was Gladion and Lillie, side-by-side. When they saw her, their eyes lit up.

"Mother!" Lillie jumped up and gave Lusamine a hug, while Gladion just walked up smiling at her.

"Oh, Lillie!" Lusamine said hugging back. "I'm so glad you two are alright!"

"You kidding? You're the one we've been worried about!" Gladion told her.

"I know…" Lusamine looked down. "I… I realize I lost myself to those toxins… I hope you can forgive me."

Gladion smirked. "I can tell by the spring in your voice and your eyes that our mom is back."

"...thank you," Lusamine said tearfully.

Lillie shuffled around a bit. Lusamine could tell she had something else to say.

"Something the matter, sweetie?" she asked her.

"Er, well… there's others waiting for you," she said. "We… didn't want to bombard you all at once, so they're all outside." Lillie pulled out her phone. "I'll text them to come in if you're ready to see them."

Lusamine wasn't quite sure what was going on. "Well, sure, honey. I… don't quite understand what's going on, but I'm sure I'm ready for whoever they are."

"Well, alright." Lillie hit send on her phone while Gladion cleared the doorway.

A few moments later, the door cracked open.

Through it, came a man. A man…

"...it can't be…" Lusamine said blankly.

She and Mohn locked eyes for a long time. They were both similarly shocked to see one another.

"Are you…?"

Mohn smiled. "I am."

Lusamine teared up, then ran over and squeezed Mohn.

"I can't believe it! This must be a dream! I died and went to heaven!" The way she delivered it clearly communicated the joy in her voice. Finally, after fourteen long years, she and her husband were reunited once more.

"Ain't no heaven better than me, babe," Mohn told her. "Especially since this isn't actually heaven. This is real." The two embraced for a long time. Gladion and Lillie could not help but feel so glad for their parents, who loved each other so deeply their bond was not weakened even after fourteen years apart.

The two eventually pushed each other apart, and Lusamine asked Mohn, "how did you… I mean, I can't believe you're actually back! I thought you were dead!"

"Oh, you know, you can't keep me down for long!" Mohn joked. "I'm a Kirisame, after all! Bein' tough is my game!"

Lusamine looked around. "By the way… if you're here, then is Marisa-"

"Al-OOOOOO-la!" came a tomboyish voice through the doorway. Through it came Marisa in her best witch outfit (the navy blue one with three buttons), followed closely by Alice, Sunshine and Kourin. Lusamine hardly recognized Marisa with her getup, but the platinum locks and green eyes gave her away clear as day.

"Marisa!" Lusamine smiled. "You've grown!"

"Well, I mean, yeah, I am eighteen. What, you seriously didn't think I'd be a nugget forever, did 'ya?"

Lusamine laughed. "Oh, I suppose not. By the way, is there a convention going on? That costume is so…"

"Oh, yeah, the dress? No, actually I'm a witch."

Lusamine was puzzled. "A… witch?"

"Yeah, like a real witch! I ride a broom and make potions and everything! And this is my magician friend over here!"

Alice was surprised for a moment, before collecting herself and extending her hand. "Ah, yes, pleased to meet you Mrs. Kirisame. I'm Alice Margatroid. Pleased to meet you."

"Oh… hi, miss… Alice." Lusamine shook Alice's hand, when a floating doll came out from behind the puppeteer, catching Lusamine's attention.

"Err… I'm sorry, but what kind of place did you all come from?" Lusamine asked confusedly.

"A magic place fulla gods and demons," Marisa boasted. "Actually, we're in that place right now. It just… kinda got dumped here in Alola by Necrozma. It's a long story, you probably wouldn't be interested."

Necrozma… Lusamine of course knew of the legend, but… it was involved in this incident, huh? Maybe it was the thing that knocked her out? She didn't know.

Lusamine shook her head. "Well, however you all got here, I'm so glad you two are back. I'm sure you have stories for me."

"You bet!" Marisa said holding out her fist.

Lusamine then turned to Kourin. "And you are?"

"I'm Rinnosuke Morichika," he said bowing. "You have me to thank for looking after these two."

"He's like the cool uncle I never had!" Marisa said.

"We're very good friends," Mohn added. "He taught me how to run a shop, and I opened my own, and that's how I've supported myself."

Lusamine shook Kourin's hand. "Pleased to meet you. I am Lusamine." As she shook his hand, she noticed Sunshine off to the side, kicking around looking at the floor.

"Oh? Who is this little lady?" she asked sweetly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Alice laughed. "Sunshine, would you like to come say hi to your grandmother?"

Lusamine's mind went blank.

"Er… grand what now?"

"She used to be one of Alice's dolls, but we helped her become a real girl!" Marisa explained. "I'm a mom to her, so that would make you her granny!"

The little girl awkwardly waved at Lusamine. "...hi. I'm… Sunshine." Her eye glinted just then, briefly revealing her true nature as a Necrozma to Lusamine, letting her know this was a very special girl indeed.

Lusamine was still unsure how to process being a granny all of a sudden. She was too young to be a grandma, she thought. This couldn't be real, right?

...and that's when her eyes wandered and saw Marisa and Alice holding hands, each one with an engagement ring on it.

"...mother, are you alright?" Lillie asked.

"...ah!" Lusamine snapped back to reality. "No, I'm fine! It's just that… this is all so much to take in all at once! I… can we go back home so we can catch up? I want to hear everything up until now!"

"I don't see why not!" Mohn said. Walking out the door to a waiting helicopter ready to take them back to Aether Paradise, Lusamine asked to pick up and hold Sunshine, feeling the girl's warmth against her as they stepped on.

The chopper took off, heading across the island and giving Lusamine an amazing view of Gensokyo, the land that Marisa and Mohn had called home for all these years. She certainly was ready not only to hear their tales, but perhaps see them firsthand as well.

"This place is _gorgeous _," she beamed. From the snow-capped Youkai Mountain to the verdant Genbu Ravine, the darkness of the Forest of Magic to the shrine tucked into a mountain pass. The grand old Myouren Temple crowned a clifftop, the Human Village sat by the sea, and the Scarlet Devil Mansion sprawled across bayfront property with white, sandy beaches. In the distance, she could see Skarmory nesting near the Tengu City on the mountain with what appeared to be winged humans flying close by, and the chopper swung close to the river where a Dewott was practicing its swordplay while its Primarina mother watched. Eventually, the stark-whiteness of Aether Paradise, tucked along the shore, came into view, and before long the helicopter lowered down onto the landing pad just outside the family mansion.

The chopper's blades blew wind in all directions, making all the employees awaiting Lusamine's return step back and shield their faces. One by one, the family and friends stepped off onto the white tiles, and employees greeted them as they waved and walked toward the mansion.

"This is quite the place," Rinnosuke remarked, looking around at all the expansive gardens, the massive, glass-ceilinged terrarium where the conservation area was, and most of all the regal mansion standing at the edge of it all. What impressed him the most, however, was that Mohn and Marisa came from such a silver-spooned background, something he never would have guessed based on their demeanor and, in Marisa's case, lack of cleanliness and caretaking.

Entering the sprawling mansion, the maids and butler were all quick to greet the newly reunited family, who were given the red-carpet treatment as they were led to the dining room, where an impressive lunch spread awaited them. After a week unconscious, Lusamine was certainly looking forward to some grub.

"Wow, and we even get lunch too!" Marisa exclaimed.

Kourin picked up a crab cake filled with Crabrawler claw meat. "I can tell this food was made with very expensive ingredients."

"When you can afford the best, it's no surprise at all," Lusamine smiled. "I'm surprised you could tell so quickly, though. You must have a good eye for cuisine."

"Not particularly," Kourin smirked. "I can look at an object and tell what it is, although not necessarily how it's used. That's how I can tell people what the items in my shop are. But yes, it also means I'm good at looking for ingredients when I'm out shopping and gathering."

Lusamine snickered. "Well, maybe I should hire you as a chef." Her toothy, smug smile with a fang reminded him of Marisa's own. Now he knew where she got it from, he thought.

Kourin shrugged. "Well, I guess I wouldn't mind. I don't suspect my shop would make much money in this world."

Lusamine then turned toward the magicians. "So… a witch, huh?" she asked. "Does that mean you wave a wand around saying hocus-pocus or what?" She smiled. "Or maaaaybe you like a magical girl who says cute phrases to transform~!"

Marisa laughed. "Oh, no, it's not like that. It's more like a science than any of that stuff. There's a buncha chemistry involved in making potions, and by chemistry I don't mean mixing newt eye with other stuff, I mean like actual balancing formulas and reactions, figurin' out molarity, partial pressure and pH, drawin' out salts and ions, all that good stuff. Lots of biology and botany, finding good mushrooms and all that, physics because magic's a type of energy the same as light and radiation, astronomy 'cause planet and star alignments affect a lot of reactions, math so you get your numbers and equations right… basically, I'm just like you and dad who were scientists!"

"And lasers. Don't forget about lasers," Alice joked, elbowing Marisa.

"Well, I mean, how else am I supposed to fry some dumb shmuck in my way in a jiffy?" Marisa chuckled.

Lusamine smiled, glad that her girl was just as smart as her, if not even more so, and dedicated enough to her craft that she was past kids who actually went to high school. "I see. It sounds like this place is tough. Is that why you're a witch?"

"Well, that, and it was also borne of my attempts to try and get home," Marisa admitted. "I never wanted to give up, so I did whatever to make it happen." Lusamine's heart warmed, hearing that Marisa never stopped looking for a way back home and that that was cause and reason.

She turned to Alice next. "And you? How did you meet Marisa?"

"Well, more like she met me," Alice admitted. "She moved into an abandoned house near my cottage after we first met, because she saw how skilled of a magician I was and wanted help with her experiments. To be honest, she was kind of a pest at first, but after I saw how truly dedicated she was to her research and how smart she was she grew on me."

"My, you seem quite young to be such an accomplished magician," Lusamine noted.

Alice laughed. "Oh, that's not it at all! I'm actually over eighty."

Lusamine was confused.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I should have clarified. Magicians who are skilled enough become youkai magicians who don't age, and that's what I am. It took me until I was about fifty to get to that point, but I made myself look like a teenager because I didn't like the health problems and creaking joints middle age gave me. That will probably happen to Marisa too if she keeps it up," she paused looking around, "which she can because this world has magical energies similar to Gensokyo's, but they're even stronger, almost on par with Makai's."

"I'm not surprised," Gladion added. "There's a lot of Pokemon species who use magic frequently and even some humans can. How else can a Blastoise get the water it needs to fire Hydro Pump, or a Zoroark without a flame organ use Flamethrower?"

Lusamine paused, then asked her next question. "That's… that's quite interesting! I didn't know there was so much to magic!"

"Indeed," Alice affirmed. "As you can see, my specialty is creating, controlling and empowering dolls, like this one," she said pointing to the Shanghai doll behind her. "Right now I'm controlling its movements using invisible strings connected to my fingers." She looked at Sunshine. "Sunshine here was one of my creations. Necrozma injected a soul into her, giving her thoughts and sapience. We made a larger body for her to inhabit, before a Xerneas which I'm assuming Necrozma directed gave her life to make her a real girl!" She paused. "...or, that's what we thought, but the truth is even more amazing. Not just a girl, but she is, in fact, another Necrozma."

"...another Necrozma?" Lusamine asked curiously. Sunshine was willing to demonstrate, and sent out Nebby.

"This is Nebby," Sunshine said. "This is the thing you tried to use to open that Wormhole?"

"MAHIA!"

Lusamine was impressed. She didn't expect the Cosmog to evolve, much less into a graceful Lunala, after what she did to it.

"Nebby says it still doesn't quite forgive you for what you did, but understands you weren't yourself and were desperate." Sunshine then released her brain crystal, causing herself and Nebby to turn into lights which built around it, before flashing and quickly receding to reveal Ultra Necrozma once more, the towering light dragon striking fear and respect into the hearts of all in the room. Lusamine and Mohn, for all their research, had no idea that Necrozma hid this secret all along. Finally, Sunshine melted back down into her girl form and Nebby in seemingly the blink of an eye.

"Impressive…" was all Lusamine could say.

"I… I don't have enough energy on my own to assume that form without Nebby just yet," Sunshine admitted. "...but I will eventually!"

Lusamine was still struck, how not only did she see Necrozma's secret, but said Necrozma was her… granddaughter.

"...I see," Lusamine smiled. "I guess I'll just have to spoil you extra-hard then!" she joked, giving Sunshine a noogie.

Gladion groaned, but still smirked. "Oh jeez," he joked. "Not even a day and she's already an embarrassing grandparent."

"Oh, don't be like that!" Lusamine joked in a way that reminded the magicians of a certain gap-youkai. "We're all together now, and that means you have to put up with Ms. Lusie now!" Mohn smiled as his wife's kind but deadpan, wisecracking and politically-incorrect self came crashing back like an avalanche. Grabbing Alice and pulling her close to one side, she joked, "and if you're gonna be my little pumpkin's wife, you're just gonna have to deal with it!" She gave Alice a raspberry as everyone howled.

"Welcome to the family, Alice," Marisa joked. And it was at that exact moment that Alice realized she was going to have to face something which all her years of magical studies could never have prepared her for:

_In-laws. _

* * *

About a month had passed since that day in Ultra Gensokyo, and it was now August, the height of the tourist season in Alola. A new attraction that came onto people's radar was the curiosity that was Gensokyo, the island on which it sat having since been christened Oma'Oma'O Island, to fit with Alola's island naming scheme and its green themes, from a green meadow with a Grass/Flying Oricorio species to the green-colored Tapu Mo'o. That month was an eventful one for everyone involved, and as expected, the news that everyone would be staying here in the Pokemon world came with mixed but ultimately positive reception. The culture shock hit the village residents the most, with them all being unused to this strange, modern world with even stranger creatures living among humans.

There were, of course, some inconvenient realities that came with this shift: first, the Youkai Sages, as almost every youkai expected, officially and forever after banned eating humans and any and all other acts that would be illegal in this society such as drinking if one appeared underage. Since pretty much all youkai had the ability to shift into Pokemon species most closely matching their own, those who couldn't bring themselves to adjust to this human-centric world did so, and would essentially live out the rest of their lives in this manner. Most, however, who considered "traditional" youkai behavior overrated before and who liked this world's embracing of all things strange, were more than willing to give it a shot.

Getting through all the legal stuff was a massive undertaking, as everyone had to have citizenship documents created, which involved interviews and basic questionnaires, getting fingerprints and eye scans, physical exams for the Pokemon World's universal healthcare system, and other legal bits and pieces like a census that included all humans as well as youkai willing to be counted. After that was settled, a municipal government was established, based within the Human Village, which came to be known as Gensokyo City. Keine, a longtime village resident and trusted administrator, won the first mayoral election by a landslide with even most youkai approving of her job, and worked with Alolan officials to adopt and put in place regional ordinances as well as the island's first batch of laws, which included zoning the entirety of the island apart from Youkai Mountain and Genbu Ravine as being Gensokyo City's city limits; the aforementioned areas established their own governments with limited autonomy from Alola's and the world's government, similar to an Indian Reservation in our world.

All the buildings across the island also started work on being brought up to code, including strengthening as well as storm-and-earthquake proofing. A desalination plant was set up in short order, a wind farm and rooftop solar arrays established for power (former Hell's nuclear plant was not considered to be insurable and was forced to close, although the hot spring remained open, plus Satori began work with officials to reconfigure and hopefully one day reopen it), and utilities began to be laid out. One of the first buildings to be fully modernized was the Hakurei Shrine, where Reimu spent the better part of a month haggling with contractors and inspectors to get the place energy-certified, hooked up to water and internet and get the custom solar-paneled roof that resembled a traditional one working, get plumbing, a toilet and septic installed, repair or replace broken structures and get the insulation and floor heating installed, and finally file all the necessary tax information since the shrine was considered a business as well as a place of worship.

Even during construction, the place got a ton of visitors, whose donations paid for all the work and still left nearly three-quarters of it, and that wasn't even including the prize money for the battles that people invariably challenged her to. At one point, she got more in a day than the shrine had received in an average two-year period before, and had to empty it more than once. Only a small portion of the donations were from people legitimately interested in the shrine and its religious services; most just wanted the privilege of seeing such a cool person as herself who came from another world and stopped what many believed to be an apocalypse. She even made enough money that she considered hiring on additional staff (something which the shrine hadn't had since the Hakurei Border went up) and had officially decommissioned the Moriya branch shrine; ironically, the Moriyas became jealous of her increased donations in spite of their own uptick in business. Her shrine was among the first attractions listed on updated travel brochures and websites, and a road leading from the still under-construction ferry dock (Aether's dock was used for the time being) to the foot of the shrine's new bus parking and loading area was Gensokyo's first paved road, with even a light rail station in the planning phase. It was all more than Reimu could have imagined the shrine ever having before, and this was just the first month in the new world.

Yesterday was the day the construction at the shrine itself officially finished, leaving Reimu to enjoy her first morning on her own in over a month. Waking up early and to the sound of her phone alarm, it still struck her as odd, her being home but home itself being in a new place, as if Gensokyo were a gigantic trailer. She was also still getting used to the traditional shrine having modern niceties such as a bathroom with a shower, a kitchen with an oven and a fridge, and heated and insulated floors so it was still comfortable the few times it got cold. At least most of the main areas, aside from being refurbished, were left as-is.

Reimu busily went about getting herself ready for the day. The increased business meant that she now had an actual schedule: open the place up at eight, which meant sweeping and other chores before then, then spend the several hours until closing at sundown helping guests and taking battle request, which she got so many of that she actually had a portable healing machine and PC on-site. All that extra work made her concentrate harder on getting hired help, and her work today would involve going through some applications. As she bounced around, getting her miko outfit back on and her hair tubes in place (she had since changed her hair back to its normal black, straight look), she glanced at the calendar and-

Oh. It was Tuesday.

Reimu was so busy and in go-getter mode, she forgot it was the one day she had chosen to close the shrine so she could have time to herself (she picked Tuesday since, once school started back up, she figured she'd have few visitors midweek). Dropping everything and slowing down, she took a deep breath, made herself some tea and sat down on the floor, and collected her thoughts. She really was running herself ragged, she thought. She didn't expect this new world with few incidents would give her even more work than before just processing all of her visitors and making all the changes to the shrine. Hopefully, once she got some hired hands, whom others such as Yukari and even Marisa had offered help in scouting and which included training a part-time relief miko, she could slow down and enjoy this place more at her own pace.

Getting up, she began to pace around and wonder what she should do today. Perhaps, she thought, she should go to that cafe that she had meant to visit the day this all started; she heard they had even recently attached to a Pokemon Center and had things like modern grinders and drip machines, as well as fresh pastries and Malasadas baked daily. She had substantially more money now than she knew what to do with, so she decided to head down there, get a breakfast sandwich and maybe run into a friend, so she went and got her stuff together, only to hear the telltale sound of someone shaking the offering bell outside.

_Perhaps someone doesn't know I'm closed on Tuesday, _she figured. Ah well, she'd just have to go out there and tell them that. Hopefully, it was just an innocent mistake by a tourist and not someone trying to crash in on her uninvited. So she went to the front and slid the door open to greet her visitor.

And the pianos started playing.

Standing before her was a blonde woman, wearing an odd combination of a black suit and dress with a black cape with fluffy trimmings and odd, yellow and black hair decorations. This woman gave a professional yet ominous air, like she was someone not to be trifled with. Yet at the same time she gave a welcoming, almost playful appearance, especially with that half-smile and her holding one side of herself.

"Alola," she greeted. "You must be Reimu, right?"

"Er, yeah," Reimu said unsure. "What business do you have today? I'm closed on Tuesday."

"Oh, no business," the woman told her. "I just wanted to come visit you on your day off. Marisa's family told me all about you."

Reimu fiddled with her broom a bit, then asked her, "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"Ah, my apologies," the woman said. "You can just call me Cynthia. I'm Sinnoh's champion. I was in town on vacation and…"

Reimu's eyes widened. _The _Cynthia, one of the world's most skilled trainers? She had heard of her many times but had never seen her in person. Now here she was at her humble shrine on her day off, where they could have each other's full attention.

"No way!" Reimu exclaimed. "I've heard all about you! All the pro trainers I get mention you constantly! You were caught up in that Team Galactic incident way back, right? Lillie told me all about it!"

"The only and only," Cynthia said. "And you're Reimu Hakurei, the wormhole maiden who took the world by storm and saved it from disaster. I wish I could have been there to see that, Eiki told me it was a wild experience."

Reimu tilted her head. "You know Eiki Shiki?"

"Of course. She and her friend are training to become International Police investigators. We met at a coffee shop in Jubilife City and we hit it off quite well. She invited me to come visit here when I got the chance, and it certainly is an exotic place."

"Gensokyo has that effect," Reimu told her. "Rabbit holes at every turn, each weirder than the last."

"It certainly seems like that," Cynthia chuckled. "At one point, I ran into two sisters, one with orange hair and she looked like a movie star, the other looked poor for some reason…"

Ah, yes, the Yorigami sisters. Reimu had been keeping a close eye on them for quite some time; in fact, before this incident she had been gathering evidence that they were going to do something big soon. Shion was a poverty goddess that spread misfortune around, while Jo'on encouraged people's desires by leading them to financial ruin. They used their powers in the past to scam people, which brought them into conflict with her and some others often. Word was their "faller ability" allowed them to switch their abilities on and off at will, and so far they had been on good behavior, although Reimu had talked the fuzz into monitoring them for suspicious activity.

"I hope they didn't try to scam you," Reimu asked.

"They actually challenged me to a battle, but their team was no match for my Garchomp." She smiled thinking about it. "She's getting a little up there in age, but she still fights like a champion."

"I've heard your Garchomp is fierce," Reimu remarked.

"She's my first Pokemon," Cynthia said. "That was a crazy day when I caught her, chewing up the cables at my father's work site. But that just proved she was a scrappy little girl, and I easily trained her to be a strong fighter." As she was saying this, she very conspicuously flashed an Ultra Ball gripped in her right hand.

Reimu observed closely. "Hm. Hmhmhm," she chuckled. "I don't suppose you came here to demonstrate Garchomp," she asked slyly. "If you have, then you certainly won't find me to be the pushover that they probably were."

Cynthia closed her eyes and smirked. "I just wanted to see the power of the _world-famous _Reimu Hakurei."

"If you insist," Reimu taunted as she sent out Sasha, who beat his chest and roared, rearing for battle. Cynthia matched the wrestler cat with her own traditional startup, a keystone which soon projected a lilac ghoul with an evil face, Spiritomb. Cynthia commanded it to use Double Team, which it did by glaring and laughing wickedly while shifting around creating illusions…

...not that Sasha cared, jump-tackling into it and grabbing it in his arms as he slid. Sasha then punted the keystone straight up into the air, before finishing it off just before it landed with a powerful lariat.

"Impressive," Cynthia remarked. "Your Incineroar is certainly trained well. Perhaps now is the time I get started for _real _." She took out her sole standard Pokeball, tossed it, and out came a fearsome, bipedal land-shark, who roared at its opponent while flashing its fins.

"Ohoho," Reimu chortled with just a tinge of nervousness. "You must consider me a real threat for you to drag out ol' Chompy so early in the battle."

"It is always tactical to bring out a Pokemon that counters the one in front of you," Cynthia explained. She then posed and let out her hand, revealing a double-sided Mega Ring from under her sleeve with a Z-Crystal clipped onto the underside of it. "Now witness the power of a truly Earth-shaking Z-Move!" Striking the ground while reaching up into the sky, Z-Power surged from her Groundium-Z into her Garchomp, who crouched low to the ground while baring her teeth and growling, before shooting straight at Sasha, shoving him into the ground and piercing straight into the earth underneath the shrine, emerging into the caverns underneath the surface.

Hitting the ground, the two Pokemon got up dazed while brushing off their scuffs, before looking up at the hell raven staring at them. As it happened, they were in a sensitive area of the reactor complex currently under shutdown, and Utsuho Reiuji was very defensive of them.

"Satori-sama told me not to let in any visitors!" she chirped dissonantly, before brandishing her control rod which soon transformed into a massive array of ray guns pointed right at the two fighters. They barely had enough time to look at each other and gulp before getting blasted by suns and lasers, sending them rocketing up out of the summit of Youkai Mountain, in the process shattering part of a walkway in front of the Moriya Shrine which Sanae had just gotten repaired.

While in the air, time seemed to slow as the two careened through the clouds at high speeds, tumbling around and eventually facing one another.

Sasha opened his eyes, and smirked. Then, in a flash of light, "Sasha" melded into an exact copy of Garchomp, charging her with Dragon Rush and knocking her straight into the ground in front of the shrine, leaving a small crater where she landed. Moments later, an exhausted Ditto splattered onto the ground, and both fighters recalled their Pokemon.

"I knew that thing would come in handy one of these days," Reimu remarked.

Cynthia's eyes widened. "Well. I never would have guessed that wasn't Sasha."

"I actually don't him with me at the moment," Reimu chuckled. "Let's just say he's on his honeymoon."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, Adele was out on a morning swim in a reef near the shore, while Sasha was busy bench-pressing two keystones while Tenshi spotted for him, a clutch of eggs buried in the sand and surrounded by coals nearby.

Shrugging it off, Cynthia let out Milotic, a beautiful and serene sea serpent who Reimu matched with her own scowling sea dragon Wakasagehime (who, as a side note, her namesake approved of). Cynthia had enough foresight to teach Milotic Dragon Pulse despite otherwise being defensive, exactly for situations like this, and so commanded it to use the move; however, it was intercepted by Hurricane, the two attacks merging into a twisting maelstrom of draconic energy crackling with electricity. A swing of her fin sent the storm right into Milotic, ravaging the Tender Pokemon and knocking her out.

Now down three to Reimu's one, Cynthia gritted her teeth and decided now was the time to get serious. She decided now was the perfect moment to demonstrate two new additions to her team. The first one she sent out was a cobra, about the size of Cynthia herself, and whose hood flared with trippy, bioluminescent patterns while it hissed at Reimu.

Reimu tilted her head. "Huh…? I've never seen that one before."

"This is Psycobra," Cynthia explained. "It's a very rare species from Novograd, but there is a population on this island as well, in the forest at the foot of the mountain as well as the Forest of Magic. And that's where I found this one as its pre-evolved form, Psyrpent. It's quite versatile." Commanding it to attack, it bared its fangs, striking Wakasagehime in the blink of an eye and sinking them into her skin, poisoning her.

Reimu decided not to keep her now ailing Pokemon out, so she recalled it and sent out the only thing qualified to take this monster on: Magnezone, whose Steel-Typing let it laugh off poison and muscle through Psychic blasts, going for the paralysis with Thunder Wave and crippling Psycobra.

However, Cynthia was right when she said it was versatile, since besides its main attacks it also had Fire Blast and, more importantly, Earthquake to counter the Steel-types that dared threaten it. So it used the latter move, hoping to effortlessly knock out its 4x weak opponent… but, generally speaking, the opponent has to be grounded for the shock waves to strike it and sink it into the ground to deal damage, and Magnezone just floated over it, focusing on blasting out Thunderbolts that hit like trucks. An attempt at Fire Blast failed when it was fully paralyzed, allowing Magnezone to knock it out.

Cynthia was now visibly seething, prompting Reimu to cheekily smirk. "What's wrong?" she teased. "Is miss champion's fight not going her way?"

Cynthia shook her head. "No, it's just… it's been so long since the last time I've been at the receiving end of a beating." She gripped another Ultra Ball and tossed it. "But I wonder… do you have an answer to this?" Emerging from it was an archangel-like Pokemon, similar to Alice's but male (resembling depictions of Micheal) and wielding a spear. "This is Arcovenant… the male of the species, that is. I found it in its pre-evolved form near the mansion and evolved it. It's quite an interesting species, I've never seen or used anything like it." By now Rotom had been updated with its information, filling in its entry (which also had Alice's Arcovenant in its memory) and pointing out its Fighting/Fairy typing.

Reimu felt that it might be risky to leave Magnezone out against it, and so switched out to another of her Pokemon who could more safely combat it. Spreading her wings and ears, Sanae took to the sky, the fearsome Archangel Pokemon diving up moments after. The pair rose up high above the shrine, just off the side of Youkai Mountain near the Shining Needle Castle. Sanae realized it would be best to engage Arcovenant at a distance; that sharp spear with sword blades extending down the tip was not to be trifled with. She had a varied moveset that included Air Slash and Psychic to hit it super-effectively, plus Ice Beam to try and freeze its wings. First, she let loose with Air Slash, but Arcovenant foresaw the attack and quickly shut his metal-scaled wings to dispel it, taking minimal damage. He realized that, despite type advantage, Sanae was weakest if engaged at close range where his attacks could land, but she was faster than him, forcing him to get creative and figure out how to do that.

Thinking quickly, he found a ledge along a cliffside, and positioned himself there so he could more effectively parry Sanae's attacks from where having to remain aloft was not a concern. Sanae took this as him feeling cornered, and let loose with more Air Slashes and Ice Beams, but each attack was repelled by Arcovenant's wings and mighty spear, which he used to smash rocks off the mountain and hurl them at her, forcing her to dodge.

Sanae then switched tactics, using Psychic to try and pry his wings open to land an attack. Activating it, she concentrated hard on the wings, which Arcovenant struggled to keep closed as the psychokinetic force threatened to rip them clean off. But his determination and resistance eventually paid off, as Sanae lost focus and became dizzy from using the attack for too long. Now was the time to strike. Rising above, Arcovenant bore straight down on Sanae with a fist covered in electricity, landing a powerful Thunder Punch and meteoring Sanae into the ground, knocking her out and forcing Reimu to recall her.

Arcovenant lowered down to the ground as Cynthia snided, "as you can see, type advantage isn't everything. One must use tactics in order to counter the opponent's strategy, rather than just relying on brute force." Arcovenant twirled his spear around and let out his hand as if to say "here and obey the word of the lord…"

...before turning around and getting slammed by a huge metal drill, driving him into the hillside and knocking him out.

"One must also remain aware of their surroundings and not talk about how they're going to win," Reimu countered. A blue, jackal-like figure landed in front of her. "Nice job as always, Anubis." Reimu had decided recently that Lucario needed an actual name, and felt that the Egyptian judge of the dead was the only fitting name for him.

Cynthia crossed her arms and looked down. "To think that I would be brought down to my last Pokemon by someone other than Dawn…" She smirked, chuckled, and brandished her last Pokeball. "All the rumors about you and your skills have turned out to be true. One who kills evil spirits, faces down goddesses… how quickly you adjusted to life here and completely crushed surfing, racing and skiing. You're a rare sort of person to have done all that at just eighteen."

"The Hakurei line is one of fearless fighters," Reimu said. "I'll be damned if I don't live up to the high standard my ancestors set."

"...then I'll be damned if I don't live up to the example all descendants of the Kirisame Line strive for."

Reimu was taken aback. "Wait… are you really…?"

"Mohn and I have a common great-grandfather," Cynthia told her. "The family is unbelievably vast, with over two-thousand living members. We're as much an elite club as a family."

"Like a royal family," Reimu said. "Because the Kirisames are a royal family from Kalos." She pointed her Gohei at the Sinnohvian champion. "I may be the only living Hakurei, but that doesn't mean I don't strive to bring up the family name. If anything, it means that I am all the Hakureis at once."

Cynthia finally sent out her last Pokemon, a Lucario just like Anubis. "Very well, 'all the Hakureis.' Let's see how well you can stand up to the sheer power of Mega Evolution." She activated her keystone, and reacting quickly, Reimu opened up her pendant and activated her own. Their bonds with their Pokemon caused physical and mental energy to flow into each, powering them up until, in a flash of light, they each became Mega Lucarios, floating above the ground and brimming with aura.

Both combatants darted up into the sky and started brawling. At this point, it wasn't so much a Pokemon battle as it was something ripped out of the pages of Shonen Jump, with each one rapidly punching and striking at each other while dodging, their trainers telepathically directing their actions as they traded blows. Anubis let loose with Blaze Kicks and Aura Spheres, while Cynthia's Lucario used Drain Punches and Shadow Balls.

Reimu thought as this was going on, and hatched a plan. Reaching into her pouch, she secretly swiped a spell card, and with a skillful flick, tossed it up into the air, where Anubis caught it. Calling upon Stardust's power, the card powered up, and Anubis activated the spell card, Fantasy Seal. Flashes of light spiraled out, struck their opponent, and then yin-yang orbs sealed Lucario's powers and held it in place, giving Anubis the opportunity to practically go Super Saiyan before focusing, gathering a huge amount of energy, and unleashing a veritable Aura laser, ravaging Cynthia's Lucario and clenching the match in Reimu's favor.

The two recalled their Pokemon, after which Cynthia collapsed down to the ground. Reimu stepped up in front of her. "So," she snarked, slinging her gohei over her shoulder, "does this mean I'm the champion of Sinnoh now?"

"...as if," Cynthia retorted. "Come beat the league and challenge me officially if you so desire." Getting up and brushing herself off, she told Reimu, "I haven't had a fight like that in such a long time. When you're used to winning against other professional trainers all the time, victory gets boring, and I feel… refreshed, humbled, to have lost to someone when I wasn't holding back."

"I've been fighting since before most kids master writing," Reimu boasted. "When I was seven, Yukari left me out in the wilderness where I had to live off of the land and fight for my own skin. I still remember when I had to rip the heart out of a youkai that had killed three villagers with my bare hands." She laughed. "I've also had to shoo out drunk idiots after the party's over, some of whom could blast out half the mountain if they wanted to."

Somehow, Cynthia wasn't surprised that Reimu had received this kind of harsh training. "To become the best means sacrificing comfort for strength and willpower," she reflected. "I put myself and my Pokemon through rigorous training nearly daily to stay on top of our game, but never anything that intense."

"I bet people would kind of avoid you if you did that all of a sudden," Reimu joked. She turned back to the shrine. "It's a bit breezy out here. Would you like to come in and talk some more? I'll make you some tea."

"That sounds wonderful," Cynthia replied. So she followed the shrine maiden into the shrine, where she was treated to a cup of rare Genbu Ravine green tea, brewed using tea leave Reimu personally picked.

* * *

"...and so that's why you killed the fortune-teller?" Cynthia asked. It had been an hour since the battle, and she and Reimu were knee-deep in conversation and well into their second jelly biscuits.

"Pretty much," Reimu said, taking a sip. "I mean, on one hand, I killed a father, and have been called a hypocrite for offing him but letting other youkai visit my shrine, which is why a lot of people in the village don't trust me. But on the other hand, turning your back on humanity is one of the biggest crimes you can commit in Gensokyo." She slumped back. "Honestly, if he weren't also a known predator of kids and even fairies I might have let him go with a warning never to return to the village, since he honestly wasn't any threat, but there was no way to trust him. So I had to carry out my duty as the Hakurei Shrine maiden. Hard decisions like that one come with the territory, since I supported the balance of Gensokyo on my shoulders."

Cynthia took another sip. "I can't imagine having that sort of burden placed upon me. Being Sinnoh champion is already a job and a half."

"Speaking of which," Reimu asked, "how can you be here visiting me and not back home facing challengers?"

"Dawn takes my place whenever I am away," Cynthia answered. "As formidable as my Garchomp is, even fewer challengers make it past her Dialga and Palkia. She also used to command Giratina, but traded it for a peculiar metallic Pokemon who packs a lot of firepower."

"I think I might have battled it," Reimu said, thinking back to the battle against the Phantoms on Exeggutor Island. "I swear it looked like goddamn Lucifer."

"I don't know who that is," Cynthia explained, "but in the Sinnohvian creation myth it stood against Arceus and was cast out into the Distortion World."

"Sounds like Christian Myth," Reimu said. "Replace Arceus with YHVH and Giratina with Lucifer and you have that story in a nutshell."

"I'd love to read about some of that world's lore sometime," Cynthia said to Reimu. "I'm also an archeologist and love exploring ancient ruins, uncovering the secrets of lost civilizations."

"Patchy's library has a whole section dedicated to Earth religions, if you can get into it," Reimu told her. "Shinto, Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Native American Mythology, Greek and Roman Mythology, Zorostrianism, Theosophy, the works. I used to go there in my spare time and bone up on parts of the Shinto mythos that I wasn't clear on, as well as learn about some of the other religions."

"I doubt I'll have trouble accessing her collection," Cynthia replied. "Me and her met recently and talked for a good couple of hours about her adventures."

"Oh, right, she's been pretty busy lately, hasn't she?" Reimu asked. "I still can't believe they actually managed to go into Meiling's timeline and fix everything. Sunshine helped her and told me it was a personal request from Starlight that they get that taken care of."

"Indeed." Cynthia took another sip of tea.

Reimu thought for a second, then asked, "hey… you mentioned you met with Eiki Shiki recently, right? What was the occasion?"

"She and Komachi were just in town and invited me out for coffee." She took a sip, then set it back down, this time changing her tone a bit. "She told me something interesting that she wanted me to relay to you. She thought you wouldn't listen to her if she tried telling you herself, so she asked me to do it instead since she thought you'd enjoy my company more."

"Eiki's always been a nag who goes off on tangents and only sees things in black and white, since she had to for her old job," Reimu said rolling her eyes. "Komachi visited me a few days ago and told me when they were doing all the medical screenings it took all of five seconds for the doctors to diagnose her with Autism, which I guess has things like that as symptoms."

"She does have a unique aura," Cynthia commented.

"You could say that of a lot of people I know," Reimu snarked.

Getting back on topic, Cynthia asked Reimu, "so, I'm sure you know of the Tale of Prince Kamehameha, correct?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Reimu said.

Cynthia paused, then continued, "Eiki thinks she has her own theory on what happened after he was cast into the Ultra Wormhole by Necroma."

Reimu's ears perked up. Eiki, being the arbiter of right and wrong and Gensokyo, would undoubtedly have seen plenty of souls come before her for judgement. For her to have an idea on what happened next could only mean one thing: she was highly convinced the prince ended up in Gensokyo.

Now this tale seemed extra-weird. If that actually happened, then Alola and Gensokyo were connected in more ways than she could have imagined.

"When we were chatting in the cafe, the conversation somehow drifted toward that tale, and how no one knew the prince's fate after he was cast away. But after I described the prince to her, she said she was reminded of someone she had to judge once." She sipped some more tea before pouring another cup.

"According to her, about five-hundred years ago, a strange man came to Gensokyo from a distant land. Of course, the Hakurei Border had yet to be constructed, so outsiders, while rare, were not unusual. What was unusual was that this man had markings no one knew, and spoke a language no one understood, and he could not understand them either. He was almost killed by youkai, before the Hakurei Shrine maiden at the time, Haru Hakurei, rescued him and took him back to the shrine. There, she nursed his injuries, and helped teach him Japanese. He eventually mastered it enough to communicate to her what had happened and how he had arrived there. Realizing he would, in all likelihood, never return home, she offered to help him settle in the village or another location outside the valley."

She continued, "...but, I'm sure you know how these things go. She of course meant to help him find a home in the village, but kept putting it off, seemingly out of laziness. She put him to work on the grounds for the time being, cleaning up and such, until one day where a youkai attacked a shrine-goer. Before she could help out, he was already in action and killed the youkai with a makeshift spear. From that day onward, he accompanied her on youkai hunts, demonstrating his skills at hand-to-hand combat and leading villagers, and she knew, this amazing man was 'the one.'"

Reimu realized where this was going, and her face was blank.

"So, in time, he proposed, she accepted, and they married. Not long after, they had a daughter who would eventually take up the reins of the shrine."

Reimu was dumbstruck.

"I…" she stammered. "So… I'm descended from the prince?"

"It would seem so," Cynthia smiled. "You are, believe it or not, of Alolan royal blood."

This was all way too much for Reimu's pea-brain to absorb at that moment. When she was displaced from Gensokyo, she ended up in a place where her ancestor she never knew about came from, and had the throne in her birthright.

"But," Cynthia added waving a finger, "that is not where the story ends." Oh geez, Reimu thought, where could this possibly go next?

"The prince, ultimately, never did return home. He grew old, old enough to see his granddaughter become the shrine maiden, before his age got the better of him. Like all souls in Gensokyo, his appeared before Eiki Shiki, Yamaxanadu, for final judgement. She was just about to hand it down - she did not tell me what said judgement would have been - but found herself frozen, stuck. No matter what, she could not make that judgement."

Sipping some more tea, she continued, "normally, whenever this happens, it means the soul has some sort of unfinished business significant enough to bar it from the afterlife. In this case, he never fulfilled his destiny to become king, but she could not have known that. So, with no other alternative, she entered his soul into the cycle of reincarnation, hoping that a future life could fulfill this business. The first reincarnation was the man who was Rinnosuke Morichika's grandfather. The second was a kamaitachi, ironically exterminated by a Hakurei Shrine maiden. Each time, the soul came back to her and was re-entered into the cycle for the same reason."

She paused again, before adding, "after the third time, she was really annoyed by this one soul in particular who would not pass on no matter what she tried. She thought back to his first incarnation - that being the man who married Haru - and figured the 'unfinished business' had to do with the shrine somehow. On a whim, when she next re-entered the soul she included special instructions to make that soul a Hakurei Shrine maiden when the next one was born."

Cynthia did not need to continue for the implication to set in.

Reimu wasn't sure if either Cynthia or Eiki were shitting her, or…

"...you're joking," was all she managed, pointing at Cynthia.

"That's what she told me," Cynthia replied, taking one last sip.

All was silent. Then, Reimu began to chuckle. Then, she fell over laughing hysterically.

"Ah. Ahaha… hahahahahaha! HAHAHAHAHA!" she howled. "Oh man, that's rich! So basically, not only am I descended from the Alolan Prince, but I am, in fact, the Alolan Prince reincarnated?"

"That's what it looks like," Cynthia smiled. "And the yama's word is absolute." She looked at Reimu. "Ironic, in a way, how this whole entire time you were searching for a way home, never realizing you had returned home all along."

All of a sudden, with that revelation, everything fell into place: the reason Tapu Koko saved her back at Mahalo Trail and gave her that sparkling stone, and the others seemingly respected her despite being an outsider, was because they immediately sensed the prince's soul in her and bowed down, having sworn loyalty to him so long ago. Starlight, assuredly, picked her up and realized she was the prince, and wanted to send her back to atone for what it had done back then.

And then there was the matter of the prophecy, and all the figures now had names: the witches in wings of black, referring to Alice and Marisa in the Black Arwing. The Spectacled Disciple, referring to Adele after getting the MLG glasses. The Guardian of Order, who was Zygarde. The Mane of Dusk, Sunshine and Stardust, and all eighteen colors, the Z-Crystals powering them up. And leading the charge was the prince… herself.

Cynthia was not done with her observations, either. "And think about this… you performed the elite Over-The-Gyarados technique, which the prince invented. You were a natural on the ski slope, and so was he. And although G-Zero racing didn't exist back then, he was a champion Tauros Racer as well, another high-stakes racing sport." She stood up and crossed her arms. "And finally, while there were no Magnemite on the islands at the time, his first Pokemon was a Litten, he caught a rare Red Gyarados, he hatched an Eevee which became and Aerileon, and he caught a Lucario before journeying to Poni to face Solgaleo and Lunala." She smirked. "I guess the soul remembers, and history repeats."

It was beyond belief, how what seemed like a boring Tuesday completely flipped itself over and revealed a life-changing fact, that she was the prince, whose old Pokemon battling skills seemingly impressed upon her own, and how instead of returning to Gensokyo, she led Gensokyo to the land she didn't know she came from.

She shook her head, the sheer absurdity of the situation still gripping her like a metal hand gripped a tube of toothpaste. "I, er…" She cleared her throat. "I mean, jeez. Even after the incident ended, it's still shooting surprises at me like a machine gun. Except now I feel like I got hit in the face with a cannonball." She looked away. "I'm the prince! I didn't know it, but I was the main character of that story!"

She stopped, quieted down, then turned around smiling. "But… that was then, in a life I don't remember. Even if my soul is that of the prince, I'm still me, Reimu Hakurei, keeper of the Hakurei Shrine and resolver of incidents. That is my duty handed down to me, and my identity."

"Ah, but you shouldn't ever forget about the legacy you left behind in previous lives," Cynthia teased. "Doing that would be like pretending it never happened. Especially if, as Eiki suggested, your soul has unfinished business attached to it."

"Oh, yeah, like, what do you expect me to do, run for Prime Minister?" Reimu jokingly suggested. "The monarchy's been dead for centuries, I'd need a time machine to fulfill that role now."

Cynthia looked down, and smiled lightly. "Actually, it may be easier than you would think."

"Oh?" Reimu said tilting her head.

"Back then, as now, each island had a kahuna, and the prince's title had he become king would have been 'grand kahuna.' As it happens, that role was recently recreated." She looked at her phone. "You have today off, correct?"

"Yeah?"

Turning to the door, Cynthia told Reimu, "then gather your Pokemon and a stash of potions. I would like to show you something."


	51. The Path to the League

Some time later, Reimu found herself back in Tapu Village, staring up the trail that marked the beginning of the path that led up Mt. Lanakila. At the top, sat the new, just-opened Pokemon League. A cold wind blew snowflakes down the mountainside, melting in the warm, moist tropical air just before touching her skin.

"So," Reimu said, "it's finally finished. The Pokemon League." To be honest, she had almost forgotten about it while she was busy adjusting to her new life in Alola, and helping others do the same. But she had completed her Island Challenge, and this was its natural objective. She'd be damned if she didn't see it through to its conclusion, especially now that she had no incident sidetracking her.

"I got word from Professor Kukui that they opened it this morning," Cynthia told her. "They actually cut the ribbon a couple days ago, but he wanted to delay its opening until he knew you had the day off so that you could participate. And for good reason," she added. "For today only, challengers will battle at the top for the title of Grand Kahuna, the highest title in the entire Island Challenge. Whomever still holds that title at midnight will be locked into it, and it will change hands only if and when they retire."

Cynthia paused for a moment before continuing. "The choosing of that title was deliberate. I was not the first person Eiki told that you were the reincarnation of the prince."

"Of course you weren't," Reimu snided crossing her arms."

"She told the professor that, once she realized that the soul's 'unfinished business' was that the prince never became the Kahuna of Alola, that changing the title from 'champion' to 'Grand Kahuna' might be sufficient to consider that fulfilling that destiny, since you would be a Kahuna who stands above all others, and who stands above the islands as a whole, both literally and figuratively." She smirked and crossed her arms. "Of course, that doesn't mean other challengers are going to just let you have the title simply because some green-haired lady in a judge outfit said so. This mountain will attract trainers far more skilled and tenacious than any you have so far encountered. Indeed, even those who you've faced in the past will be more on top of their game than usual, so you would do well to consider everyone you meet a serious foe."

"I don't think that will be much of an issue," Reimu boasted, spinning her gohei around - her main, body-length gohei, not the smaller one she had been carrying during the incident which was meant for minor engagements. "I have both literally and figuratively been to Hell and back, put down a bratty celestial goddess who wrecked my shrine twice, and most recently bested a god capable of defeating the Great Dragon with the help of the legendary Pokemon whose power I command, among other things. I feel I have also earned back the trust of the Hakurei Kami, and I have trained for far tougher battles than any human can provide. Not only that, but I have a strong bond between me and my companions. I think I'm ready for anything this peak will throw at me."

Cynthia nodded. "I cannot follow you past this point. You must brave the peak alone."

"Understood," Reimu affirmed. "I require no guidance from anyone now. This is my trial, and my trial alone."

And with that, she confidently faced the trail and proceeded up it, the snowflakes intensifying as she passed the last few palm trees ajoining the path.

Even when Ula'Ula as a whole wasn't covered in snow, for some poorly understood reason Mt. Lanakila, Alola's highest mountain even with the appearance of Youkai Mountain in this realm, was perpetually blanketed by snow and glaciers in spite of its location in the tropics. Native Alolans always maintained that it was because of the Tapu's magic that it was kept that way, and as a result it was an immensely sacred place to them, with entry forbidden to outsiders except those who were facing the final part of their Island Challenge, even having a special device installed jamming Charizard Glide unless one had at least attempted to claim their title as an Island Champion or otherwise had special permission. This trail was the one and only path up to the top, and it was designed to test the hardiness and resilience of all those who tread upon it.

Fortunately for Reimu, her miko outfit was specially enchanted to withstand Gensokyo's bitterly cold winters and the rigors of high-altitude locations and flying, and keep her warm while doing so despite the fact that it didn't look like it should be able to, especially with its detached sleeves baring her armpits (something others tended to give her crap about). A trek like this one up the side of Mt. Lanakila was exactly the sort of situation it was made for. Reimu reckoned it would be just like shooting up Youkai Mountain, given that this mountain was only about fifty meters taller.

Making her say through the thin grass grove that the trail cut across, she came to the mountain's rocky base, and an apparent metal rail climbing up the mountainside. The rail was soon justified when she heard a distant clanking noise, which was soon shown to be coming from an open-air elevator car moving at a high speed. Reimu stepped back as the cart came down to the end of the track, and off of it stepped a familiar face: Gladion.

"Alola," he smirked. "Took you long enough to get here, _prince _."

"Hey, I was stuck in traffic for five-hundred years," Reimu retorted.

"I didn't know getting stuck in traffic could turn a handsome prince into a priestess like you," Gladion said back. Dropping his smirk and stepping forward, he said, "jokes aside, welcome to Mt. Lanakila. I'm sure you know this already, but at the top is the league. Professor Kukui delayed its opening so that you could challenge it on your day off."

"Yeah, I know," Reimu dismissed. "I was already told that by-"

Gladion then took a threatening stance while grinning maniacally. "I don't think you should get any special treatment just because you're reincarnated from the Prince," he taunted. "If anything, that just gives me an excuse to try even harder!" In one swift motion, he curveballed a Pokeball onto the ground, releasing a Crobat ready to rock-and-roll.

"Oh, so that's how it is," Reimu casually noted, before releasing Anubis to go pound its face into the ground. She was just about to command him to use Ice Punch, when she felt something… off. Like, Crobat's aura wasn't what it should be. Not only that, but it was flying awfully low to the ground…

"Use Aura Sphere!" she commanded. Despite the seemingly counter-intuitive move given Crobat's typing, Anubis did not doubt his trainer's command for one second, unleasing a powerful Aura Sphere striking the bat right in the face. As soon as it did, Zoroark's illusion dropped, and the black fox was sent careening across the field, hitting a boulder upside-down and with his eye bulging out and his tongue hanging out.

"Sheesh," Reimu mused, "that poor thing can't ever catch a break, can he?"

"Eh…" Gladion groaned as he recalled it. "Yeah, he's _still _getting over… whatever that nine-tailed fox-lady did to him last month."

"Oh believe me, Ran might seem like a quirky, mild-mannered familiar," Reimu told him, "but she would used to throw all her clothes off and run yelling through the woods at the top of her lungs, beating up whoever was in her way. I've also been asked more than once by Yukari to tear her off both human and youkai men because it was 'that' time of the month."

Gladion awkwardly avoided her eyes. "I… see." He shrugged, then proclaimed, "still, that doesn't mean I'm going to let you win!" He then tossed out what he thought his best answer to Anubis would be - out of the Pokeball, came a piles of bones, which then quickly re-assembled themselves into what appeared to be a human skeleton, but with a horse or crocodile-like skull in places of a human one and black eyes with white pupils in the eyeholes.

"This is a new species found nowhere else but Oma'Oma'O Island. I found this and another strange species while I was out training in the Great Youkai Forest."

Reimu slouched back. "Impressive that a human like you would dive in there just on a whim. Used to be that nearly everything in there that moved would try to eat humans." She looked at the strange Pokemon, which resembled a Gashadokuro in appearance but was much smaller than the gargantuan eater of human heads. "What's it called?"

Gladion put his hand up to his face. "I came up with the name myself: Bonetrousle."

Gladion was not kidding when he said he himself came up with the name: within moments, Rotom was already over it, scanning and adding its info, including the fact that it was Ground/Fighting.

"Eeehhhhug," Reimu groaned, knowing she had to face yet another Ground-type. She figured Anubis would be at risk staying out against it, so she swapped him out. She thought about sending out Sanae to fly above its attacks and assault it with Air Slashes, but then she thought about the fact that, since Ground and Fighting types on their own often had Rock moves, then this thing was likely to as well. So she sent out her only Pokemon not weak to either Ground or Rock: Wakasagehime. The towering, snarling red Gyarados stared down at her opponent, ready to tear it to shreds. Gladion thought about switching it out, but considering what Waki-Saki was capable of, he decided it would probably just be wasted effort and a fainted Pokemon.

Bonetrousle proved a quick fighter, jumping around fast as a flea and landing kicks, punches and even an Earthquake, but Reimu decided to use her one allowed Full Restore during the match to bring her up to full, before ordering Waki-Saki to unleash Hydro Pump. There was no way her literally skeletal opponent could survive it, and it collapsed back into a bone pile as Gladion recalled it.

"That's two knockouts to your zero," Reimu declared. "If you want, you can stop now and I'll leave without taking any money."

Gladion just glared at her.

"Hm, defiant 'till the end, aren't we? Well, alright, show me what you're made of!"

"Heh… okay." He sent out another Pokeball, this time revealing an even stranger sight: something that looked like Type: Null, but without the helmet and instead baring the head of what looked like a cross between a bird and a mammal, giving it a gryphon-like appearance.

"What… is that?" Reimu asked, tilting her head.

Gladion smiled. "This… is Silvally. I also came up with that name. This is what Type: Full looked like, before the helmet was put on it and it became Type: Null. It managed to bust it off after it trained enough." He drew attention to his Silvally Orthrus's blue head crest. "Silvally is compatible with the seventeen typed 'Memories' that the Aether Foundation created to allow it to change its type at will. Normally, it's a Normal-type, but by inserting a Water Memory into it, it becomes Water-type." He then drew attention to its claws. "And that's not all: it also changes the type of its unique attack, Multi-Attack, so that it can be ready for any-"

Orthrus then received an Energy Ball to the face, courtesy of Sanae.

"Less talk, more fight," Reimu barked. "Never let your opponent get any openings."

Healing Orthrus using his Full Restore, Gladion hissed, "oh, if THAT'S how you're gonna play… Ice Beam it out of the air!" And so it did, landing a direct hit and freezing the flying eeveelution into a solid hunk of ice which crashed into the ground. Approaching its prey, Orthrus reeled back a claw, swiped…

...and hit a rather surprised Magnezone, who then retaliated by sending hundreds of thousands of volts into it, knocking it out.

"Nice one," Reimu said complimenting it. "Y'know, you're the only one I've never given a nickname to…" She thought for a moment. Then, it struck her: the way it commanded lightning, how it first evolved in a storm, floated high above the heavens like the UFO it resembled… why not name it after the head norse god himself?

So she did. "And for defeating that thing, I hereby name you 'Odin!"

Now Gladion was gritting his teeth. He realized sending Crobat out against Odin would be suicide, and his other option, the Rock/Ghost sundial Pokemon Sumerial, wasn't much better.

"What's the matter?" Reimu asked him. "Ready to give up?" she teased.

Calmly, Gladion closed his eyes, and held out his palms.

"As a matter of fact, yes," he said. "You have proven to be far more capable than I anticipated, and my only remaining Pokemon would handily lose to yours, so I will concede the battle."

Somehow, despite having the battle be handed to her, Reimu felt like a jerk taunting him in that manner while he just maturely accepted defeat. It was a habit of hers, for sure, to mercilessly taunt strong opponents after a victory, and it was one thing when it was a sun-belching Hell Raven or an ancient and powerful emperor who each should have had far better odds of atomizing her than she should have had of just winning. But to do it against a normal human… seemed unsportsmanlike overkill.

"Alright," she affirmed. "I accept your surrender." She walked over and shook his hand.

Gladion stepped back, and smiled. And, Reimu could swear, he began to tear up a little. "I never would have imagined my twin sister and father would end up in the kind of place where you live," he said. "Frankly, once they were gone, most people just gave them up for dead, but I held out hope… hope that someday they would come back. It tore our family apart, them disappearing… but it was because of you that my sister found the courage to get stronger and survive until that day came."

"She's pretty stubborn," Reimu admitted. "Even when she keeps losing, she just gets back up and tries until she wins. She's a slob and a thief, but also very bright and dedicated to her work. Some have also mercilessly bullied her, but she doesn't seek revenge; she just sticks to the bright side of life and keeps moving on until the day comes where she can level the playing field. Your father's a good guy, too: he's caring, everyone loves him and he loves everybody, and he didn't even judge Marisa for leaving him to become a witch. Oh, and he makes damn good curry, to boot." She shuffled around a bit. "Lesser people probably would have become youkai chow, or at least remained holed up in a forgotten corner of the village where they would have been ostracized by the conservative and superstitious villagers. But they stuck it out for fourteen years, fully prepared to be trapped there but adapting and excelling while always holding out hope."

Gladion smiled. "Well, reincarnated prince or skilled shrine maiden, you're a special person. I hope you keep doing good and getting even better at what you do."

Reimu then looked around, then asked, "by the way, where's Selene?"

"She's taking archery lessons."

At the same time at Eientei, a piercing longbow arrow hit two centimeters to the right of another.

"Impressive," Eirin applauded. "That kind of skill is present only in people who have more experience than a normal human has a lifespan."

"I've always had a talent," Selene boasted. "It's why I teach archery to the kids at summer camp." She took another bite of dango. "This stuff's pretty good, what's the secret? Maybe I can copy it at home."

Reisen wagged a finger. "I'm sorry, but no human can hope to pound dango and mochi better than a moon rabbit," she chuckled.

Sounds of laser bullets and the meaty thawcks of melee hits came from the side, and the three turned their heads. "What are those two doing?" Selene asked.

"Oh, just fighting, as usual," Eirin said, completely nonchalantly. Meanwhile, Mokou was busy kicking at Kaguya, who just dodged her blows with a smug cat smile on her face, before Mokou eventually threw a punch right into her kisser, launching the princess's head clean off her shoulders.

"Er, uh-" a horrified Selene stammered. "She just, ah-"

"Don't worry," Eirin assured. "She'll be back to normal in a second."

"...eh?"

Blood spilled out of the neck hole of the princess's body, before her arm reached up and seemingly pulled another head out of it while the old one disintegrated into dust. Getting back up, she stared into her rival's eyes. "Cheap shot."

"'Ya asked for it, you filthy slime," Mokou quipped, lighting up another smoke. "I've been working on a new style, one designed to completely counter every last one of your tired tricks."

Kaguya giggled, then chuckled a noblewoman's chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Mokou asked.

"Now that you mention it," she said, "I've developed a new trick of my own." Then, raising into the air, she held out her arms, which suddenly transformed into a pair of white, fingered wings, before the rest of her body twisted into the shape of a sea dragon - Lugia, who then shot Aeroblast at Mokou.

Dodging the attack, Mokou threw her cigarette away before glaring and declaring, "heh… I can top that." She then rose up and herself held out her arms, while the phoenix behind her melded with her body and, in a ring of fire, she was reborn as the seven-colored crown of the Bell Tower, Ho-Oh. The two then rose up into the air and continued their fierce duel there, flames going one way and jets of water and psychic blasts going the other.

Selene looked up, and blankly told Eirin and Reisen, "those two are weird."

Silence, before Reisen answered, "...yeah. Nothing we never knew, but yeah."

After the battle, Gladion let Reimu use the lift up the mountainside, which took her to a talus, cliffy area with about a four-mile hike to the next lift, which went up to the summit. Reimu figured it'd be hazardous to have kids try and summit the mountain from bottom to top, something a normal person probably wasn't going to do in one day, but they still wanted to provide a challenge. Up here, in the cold, snowy and glaciated environment, the only plants that grew out here were hardy grasses able to withstand the cold. And, of course, plenty of icy Pokemon species found nowhere else in the islands, such as Alolan Sandslash and Slycant busting apart rocks to look for their preferred food, Crabomidable getting into fights with each other over rock spires which they would try to climb up and promptly crush under their weight, and Alolan Ninetales weaving in and out of the blizzards like ghosts. Minior would sometimes also fly low enough down to be seen at surface level gathering minerals to reinforce their shells. There were also plenty of Sneasel and Weavile dashing about, and a Glaceon surveying its territory like a tiger or lion.

The nice thing about her long gohei was that it was sturdy enough to serve as a walking stick, which she definitely needed to navigate the rough, rock-laden path up the mountainside. Given that essentially everything up here was weak to something Anubis could use, she kept him out of his Pokeball as she ascended for the sake of quickly dispatching of anything trying to get in her way. There were also patches of rough that needed Mudsdale to transverse, boulders that required Machamp push them aside, an icy lake that called for a Lapras to cross, and so on. The one thing missing here was trainers; given the harsh environment, Reimu figured nobody other than fanatics would loiter here for long, combined with the fact that it had literally just opened meaning no one else would have earned the honor to be here just yet. For once, it was just her versus the wild, a daunting task for a normal human but little more than a leg-stretcher for her, given her training.

About halfway up the mountain, Reimu came across a crystal cave, whose walls were illuminated by enormous diamond-speckled boulders lining the walls, and brilliant pillars shooting up all the way from the floor to the ceiling. The place was like a maze, and she soon found it was easy for oneself to get turned around, with her ending up back at one point three times.

"Hmm," she wondered to herself, "is there something I can do to avoid getting lost?" Looking around, she noticed that some paths were marked with bright, red-orange rubies on the walls. She decided to try following those, and soon enough she wasn't getting lost so much. Looking closer, she realized that these formations almost resembled wall torches, with similar formations marking other paths but without the rubies. So that was the puzzle: the correct paths are all marked with "lit torches" so to speak.

Following this path, she noticed a side path marked with brilliant blue ice crystals. Curious, she went down the spiralling path until she was led to a dead-end cavern with a solitary Z-Crystal pedestal with Icium-Zs in it. She figured this was where trial-goers were expected to obtain their Icium-Zs, in the absence of a Sphere Doomer stealing them that you could beat up. So she returned to the main path, and a few minutes later found the cave exit - picking up, of course, a few gemstones along the way as a self-awarded prize.

As she left the cave, she emerged out onto a wide bowl surrounded by several high rock spires, with a path continuing up the trail on the far side. She walked slowly through the snowswept bowl, figuring that there was some sort of trick or trial waiting for her here. It seemed the perfect arena for a battle, she felt. Perhaps a Totem or Totem-like Pokemon would emerge to challenge her, or maybe…

"Alola!"

Breaking out of her train of thought and spinning around to see who the voice came from, she saw Elio coming down the far path, strutting toward her with a pack on his back and a chain of Pokeballs on his belt. He was still wearing his same blue-and-white striped shirt and capri pants despite the elevation and conditions, while the skirt of her miko outfit blew in the wind.

"I wouldn't suppose you were waiting for me?" she asked him playfully.

Elio laughed. "Of course. Professor Kukui told us you would be here, and…"

"Wait," Reimu cut in. "Us?"

"Me and this little lady right here," he winked, pointing at his cap, which soon popped off to reveal a tiny, purple-haired girl in a kimono and a needle-like sword on her back.

"Hi there!" she waved.

Reimu jumped back. "Sukuna-chan?"

"I knew you'd make it up here, so I went and called him to pick me up before we came here," she explained.

"She's told me a lot about you," Elio said. "She says the two of you are friends?"

Reimu scratched her head. "Er, well, I guess. I let her stay at my place for a bit while the miracle mallet was recharging. And she helped me resolve the incident with the occult balls and Sumireko." She then shook herself off, asking, "I'm just more curious what led you two together."

Sukuna then whipped out her Miracle Mallet, which was larger than herself. "This," she proclaimed. "I don't actually need it anymore to become person-sized - I can switch between this and that at will now. Instead, when I woke up after that wormhole ate Gensokyo, there was a stone that fell into the sky and absorbed itself into the mallet, and since then, I can use it to make Pokemon huge!" She lowered the mallet. "I didn't use it back during that fight because by the time we showed up you already had it covered, but when Elio came to me to help test it after that, it did something to his Charizard that it didn't do in other Pokemon."

Reimu slung her gohei over her shoulder. "And I'm assuming you're here to test it on me?"

Elio took a battle stance. "You bet!"

Reimu smirked. "Well then, let's see how well your gimmick will work against skill." She spun Wakasagehime's Pokeball on her finger before throwing it and letting the crimson Gyarados out, once more ready to throw down against whatever.

Elio lowered his cap as Sukuna hopped out on top of his bag, mallet in hand. "Type advantage isn't going to save you this time," he taunted.

"Not believing it until I see it," Reimu retorted.

"Alright." Elio then lifted Alduin's Pokeball into the air, while Sukuna sent a vast quantity of energy into it. This lasted a few moments, before the mallet was completely spent and the Pokeball enlarged considerably, into something resembling a large, glowing Premier Ball with a violet-red aura.

"...wha…" Reimu wasn't sure what she was seeing.

Grasping it with both hands, Elio spun around and tossed it high into the air behind him before turning back around to face Reimu. Once the ball opened, Alduin materialized, growing once, twice, three times until he towered over the battlefield, with wings of fire and eyes that gazed like those of the Devil, crashing onto the ground, rearing back, and letting out an earth-shaking roar that rattled the canyon walls. A fearsome, imposing and utterly vicious opponent: Gigantamax Charizard.

Reimu stepped back. "So… that's the power of the miracle mallet," she observed.

"THAT'S the power of Dynamax," Elio boasted. "You don't see it outside of Galar because it only naturally occurs there. But a Wishing Piece fell into Sukuna's mallet, so as long as you have it, you can Dynamax anywhere!"

Reimu looked up at the leviathan before here, her hands shaking a little, and said, "I've heard passing mentions of it… it only lasts a little while, right?"

"Only a few minutes," Sukuna answered, "plus it needs twenty-four hours to charge. But we only need a few minutes to kick your butt, starting now!" Without warning and with a flap of his wings, Alduin sent a draconic wind tearing into Waki-Saki, Max Wyrmwind, then added searing flames into it, creating a hellstorm of crimson fire that roasted the beast, whose cries of pain forced Reimu to recall her and consider her knocked out.

"Damn it…" she said frustratedly. "That thing… it has immense power…"

"Like I said," Elio said, smug. "Type advantage won't help you. And not only that, but we also attacked you while your guard was down."

"Usually you're better than that," Sukuna added. Both were laughing now at Reimu's apparent disadvantage. Unsure what to do next, she just sent out Stardust, the radiant white lion crashing upon the ground and roaring defiantly at its kaiju opponent.

"Aha, so now I force you to use the Beast of Sunne," Elio smirked. "Of course, the power of Dynamax can overcome anything, even the legendary Pokemon of Alolan myth." He let out his hand. "Now Alduin, show her the power of G-Max Wildfi-"

Stones erupted from the ground, striking Alduin and causing him to fall over and roar again as he shrunk down and lay on the ground, eyes closed and his tail flame flickering like a mere candle.

"Oh, so it even solves the 4x weak to Rock problem?" Reimu said sarcastically.

You could hear a pin drop as Elio realized he was so caught up in the terror that was Alduin, he had just ignored his own advice and gave her the one opening she needed to land Stone Edge.

As Elio recalled Alduin, Reimu taunted him by asking, "I hope that wasn't your only Pokemon."

After clenching his fist, he looked up and said, "...of course not. The battle's just begun, and I have four more ready to take you on!"

"Bring it," Reimu dared, and bring it Elio did… or at least would have. The word "slaughter" was a better descriptor of what came next: both Lapras and Dragonite were felled by Stone Edges, Victreebel was done in by Zen Headbutt, and there was no way Tauros could intimidate the infinitely majestic sunne lion whose mane shone radiantly, before Stardust rammed into it once with Sunsteel Strike, putting the battle squarely in Reimu's hands; she even revived Waki-Saki and let her out so she could swipe the Miracle Mallet away from Sukuna with her fin and torment her by holding it _just _above where the inchling could reach it, causing her to jump up and down flailing her arms. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, she turned around, and saw Sasha, crouching low to the ground, growling and twitching his tail with an evil grin on his face.

Given that she still had nightmares from that time Orin as a cat visited the shrine and chased her around, she didn't think Reimu would be cruel enough to make her go through that again, much less with a big, muscular tiger-man who could probably squeeze her to jelly between his oversized paws, but given her willingness to use the Miracle Mallet to make Alduin into a kaiju and the pain she inflicted upon Waki-Saki, apparently anything was fair at this point.

"WAAAAHH! HELP MEEEEEE!" she cried, running away from Sasha. However, as much as she tried, her little legs just would not let her go far enough, fast enough, and the towering, fiery wrestler cat was gaining on her. Then, in the heat of the moment, she recalled what she said earlier about changing size at will, and so, focusing for just a moment, she did just that, springing up to the height of Elio's shoulder and causing Sasha to stop dead in his tracks.

"Wahaha! Surprised you, didn't I?" she grinned. "I'm not some little toy you can play with," she boasted raising her sword up and pointing it at Sasha, who just stared at her with a blank face and wide eyes. Sukuna turned her head to Reimu. "Guess you're little kitty is too scared to face me at full size! What do you have to say to that?"

Reimu pointed at her with a concerned, awkward expression. "Uh, Sukuna-chan?"

"Hm?" Sukuna looked down to where Reimu was pointing, and…

"EEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH!" she screamed, dropping the sword and covering her private places. She had forgotten that her power only affected herself and her sword, not her clothes, and now she was standing stark-naked in front of her friend, her friend's bara-kitty, and a modestly hot boy, all on a cold, snowy mountain, and that the reason Sasha was staring at her was because he was… well, yeah.

"Are you alright?" Elio exclaimed.

"DON'T LOOK AT ME!" Sukana yelled while blushing. But Elio remained calm. Rummaging through his bag, he found a spare Reaper Cloth that he offered to wrap around her if she shrunk back down, which she did. He also found her torn kimono and gave it back to her as well, placing her in his bag to shield her from the elements. The way he conducted himself and moved swiftly to help her out, as opposed to "taking advantage of it," impressed Reimu greatly.

...the same could not be said for Sasha, whose ears visibly lowered as he huffed in disappointment.

"Oh?" Reimu teased. "I'm sorry, was someone denied a great view?" Immediately, Sasha's fur ruffed up and his body seized. Reimu then laid her hands on her face and shifted her gaze and expression into a yandere trance. "You know, it would be _such _a shame if I had to tell your wife you were thinking about cheating on her~..."

Sasha collapsed down to the ground into a fetal position while sucking his thumb as Reimu recalled him.

Elio tilted his head. "Is he always like that?"

Reimu chuckled. "He's a huge dork, but he's _my _huge dork. He's very skilled at fighting, and he can be graceful, forceful and serious when he needs to be." She shrugged. "But, obviously, if he _doesn't _have to be, he becomes a big softie, especially if he's around his momma."

Sukuna peeked her head out of Elio's bag. "You went and swatted aside a gigantic monster like that," she said snapping her fingers. "Just as I would expect from you, _princess _Hakurei."

Reimu blushed. "Oh, staaaahp."

Elio put his hand on his face in frustration. "Arrrgh… I can't believe I let power go to my head…"

"You wouldn't be the first example I've dealt with," Reimu smirked. "Being overcome with that 'god' feeling for even just a second can and will be your undoing, because you're not thinking strategically." She moved closer to him. "But… you way you conducted yourself with Sukana-chan there… you're quite a gentleman, aren't you?"

Elio shook his head. "Oh, it's nothing. Our parents drilled a lot into me when I was little, like holding the door open and respecting a girl's privacy. Also, when my sister had all of her friends over for parties and sleepovers, I got a lot of experience being around them and talking to them as people, and not just 'girls.'"

Reimu quickly leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Do me a favor and keep your flattery to a minimum, will you?" she winked. "A woman might get the wrong idea, after all." And with that, she just strutted up the rocky path at the far side of the bowl.

Both Elio and Sukuna couldn't help but stare blankly.

"You know everyone can see it, right?" Sukuna snided. Elio silently shrugged it off as he summoned Alduin to take them back to the Shining Needle Castle to drop her off before he went back home.

It took another hour or so of trekking and battling wild Pokemon that tried to attack her to reach the bottom of a second lift. Looking up, it was easy for her to see that this lift led right up to near the mountain's summit. Not much further now, she thought. The sun was starting to droop a little in the sky, so she knew she had to move quickly if she wanted that Grand Kahuna throne. So, without hesitating, she got onto the lift, hit the button, and in a matter of moments it was shooting up the side of the mountain. She could see Malie City beneath her, veiled by the wispy clouds which Mt. Lanakila pierced above. Off in the horizon, the distinctive rocky spires of Youkai Mountain emerged above the sea, the sapphire blue waters of the ocean spreading out beyond it, a sight no one could ever have previously conceived but which was now a spectacular and surprisingly picturesque reality.

And yet, from her perspective up on the slopes of this mountain, the island seemed so… _small. _Like it had suddenly become difficult for her to believe that Gensokyo, the place she had lived all her life and went on all sorts of crazy adventures resolving incidents, could be contained on a smallish island surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometers of sea. In that moment, she really appreciated just how much her world had opened up.

A few minutes later, the elevator stopped. Stepping out its back door, she looked on at the summit just beyond. Sprawled across seemingly the entire top of the mountain, an enormous structure partially carved out of the rock itself, and a large, glass dome capping it all off. Atop a rock spire stood a lone Glaceon surveying its territory, and several Snoms crawling around the rocks. A Pokemon Center stood off to one side, and Reimu felt it smart to go in, heal up, and stock up on some last-minute supplies.

The Center contained only Ace Trainers and staff, chatting among themselves about the league's grand opening, but when Reimu came in all chatter ceased and everyone turned around to face her. Hushed whispers could be heard as she proceeded up to the nurse's counter, like "she really is here," and "is it true she's the prince?" Reimu always knew she was famous, but now it was as though she had become mythic. Perhaps the kami had a point when he said she was the "true bearer of faith" here: the way people treated her it was like she was a god herself, and not merely the patron of one. How good she was at battles, racing, skiing, everything really, despite being an outsider from a medieval society… or perhaps because of it? And then the matter of her being a reborn Alolan Prince… no wonder these people revered her, feared her, respected her. They never knew her as the lazy but dedicated and personable shrine maiden she was, only as this… _force. _

The nurse didn't even speak when she presented her Pokemon to heal. The Pokemart man only spoke enough to tell her what her total was for the Revives and Full Restores she got thirty each of. Before leaving, she went over to the Poke Beans counter for a drink.

"...ah, miss Hakurei," he said. "Welcome. I see you have managed to make it this far."

"Well, yeah, obviously," she said semi-sarcastically. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't, after all." She was just about to ask for some tea, before the man handed her a cup of something that smelled really, really good.

"I've kept this warm for you," he explained. "It's a special coffee brewed using extremely rare Hoennese beans. It's packed with vitamins and antioxidants, and is so potent it can lift the spirits of someone in a coma." He pushed it over to her. "I reckon you'll need it for the trial ahead."

She could have declined it, of course, since it wasn't what she intended on ordering, but the aroma was simply too much to resist, and if it was as special as he made it sound like then it would be very much impolite to refuse it. "How much?" she asked.

The man shook his head. "I'll tell you what: if you win it, it's on me."

Reimu understood. "Thank you." She took the cup, left a couple coins for his generosity, and left.

Outside the Pokemon Center, she started up the path that led to the League building. Before she could go further, however, she was stopped by a pair of voices behind her.

"Yo, Reimu!" Hau ran up to her, with Professor Kukui not far behind.

"Oh, Hau! And… Professor?" Reimu was a little surprised to see the two of them up here together.

"Nice to see you again, cousin," Kukui smiled while adjusting his glasses. He looked off toward the League building. "That's what I meant when I said I was workin' on something special. I got the funding for it all by myself. What do you think?"

Reimu looked once more at the Professor, who, like always, wasn't wearing anything under his open lab coat blowing in the freezing wind. She tilted her head. "Like I said, aren't you cold like that?"

Kukui just shook his head. "And what did I say before? My spirit's too hot to chill! And I'm sure Hau's is, too!"

"That's right!" Hau chirped. "I came all the way up here, after going back and doing all the trials I skipped. I even challenged Gramps to a fight." He struck a pose. "Raichu beat his team up like it was nothing! And he wasn't even mad, he just laughed and hugged me saying I did him good!" He then leaned back. "Man, to think going on that insane journey with you would make me this strong!"

Reimu smiled. "Well, I'm very glad you could make him proud. And I agree: going on that journey, facing all those trials both good and bad, I'm sure it's made all of us stronger." Sensing what was coming, she didn't hesitate to send out Stardust, whose roar echoed throughout the area.

Reimu crossed her arms, looked down at Hau and sneered wickedly. "But if that throne is what you're here for, then I'm afraid this is as far as you will go."

Hau smirked and took a battling stance. "You know it's gonna take more than the Legendary Pokemon to scare me. I've faced death, after all."

"So have I," Reimu retorted. "More times than you, as a matter of fact, when I was younger than you to boot. So come on, what else have you got?"

Without hesitating, Hau sent out Hedwig, confident her type advantage could even out the match. "Only my strongest and most trusted first Pokemon. And she's gonna nail you in and cast your light into the shadows."

"We'll see about that," Reimu replied. She then ordered Stardust to attack with Zen Headbutt, which Hedwig narrowly dodged. Hovering in the air, she used her deft wings to evade Stardust's swings, before settling down upon a rock spire and readying a shot. Aiming carefully to try and hit Stardust's shadow, she followed the lion's movements until she had a sizable target to strike, but Stardust's radiance stymied that effort by burning away any shadow it would create, forcing her to go for a less effective direct hit. Firing her arrow, it cut through the air like a fiery needle aimed straight at Stardust's face, but its steel-hard mane caused the arrow to deflect off back to the rock spire, hitting Hedwig's shadow instead for super-effective damage. Although Hedwig herself could not be trapped by the attack, she still staggered, giving Stardust the opportunity to finish her off with a claw slash.

"Gehh," Hau grunted, taken aback by the sheer power of the Sunne avatar before him. Another child on their island challenge would simply have given up, but not him. He fought alongside this girl during his Island Challenge and faced a being of unimaginable power. His scrappy attitude prevented him from conceding now, and he wanted to prove he could overcome this challenge even if it wasn't enough to defeat the rest of her team. So he switched out to Arcanine, hoping to burn the lion's metal hide.

"Go, Flare Blitz!" he commanded, and Arcanine surrounded itself in flames before rushing down and crashing into Stardust…

...except instead of Stardust, it struck a mildly annoyed Waki-Saki. Reimu had switched out Stardust for her while Hau was distracted. The sea dragon, shrugging off the blow, just looked down at Arcanine, stared for a few moments, then spontaneously shoop-da-whoop'd it with Hydro Pump, knocking the soaking wet fire doggo out cold and forcing Hau to recall it. The story was much the same for Hau's three next Pokemon, with Reimu wanting to demonstrate her entire team to him rather than just rely on one powerful Pokemon to try and sweep him: Sasha used an Enzuigiri on Raichu, one Flash Cannon from Odin was able to shatter Crabomidable like a poorly-built snowman, and Lucario's Aura Sphere was able to floor Tauros just like that.

Hau clenched his fist in frustration as he recalled Tauros, down five Pokemon compared to Reimu having lost none of hers, some Reimu was well-aware of as she spun one of her Pokeballs on her index finger. "I told you that you aren't gonna get past me," she taunted. "That throne is mine for the taking, and mine alone, and I'm pulling no punches to make sure it's mine."

Hau looked down, panting.

Then, he looked back up, smiling wickedly.

"Hm?" Reimu wondered, tilting her head.

"Heh…" Hau leaned back. "Well, if you're not holding back, then I'm not gonna hold back either!" In one swift throw, he tossed out his last Pokeball, out of which emerged a tall, warrior dragon, holding its arms out and rattling its scales threateningly. This right here was Hau's best fighter, named after another fighting dragon: the Kommo-o, Meiling.

"I've been training with her like heck since last month," Hau boasted. "Going around, fighting all sorts of trainers. I even went on a tour around your island and challenged everyone I could find, and I even caught all sorts of different species!" He flashed his phone, which revealed he had registered more than eighty Oma'Oma'O species, including Hydreigon, implying he had been up Youkai Mountain, the only place wild Hydreigon and its lesser forms were known to live in Alola. Which meant he got his hands dirty with the fierce Tengu, Kappa and other species living in that area, not to mention some truly unique and ferocious Pokemon such as… Ludicolo?

Reimu fixed her stance. "Well then… seems like you've been busy!"

"Sure have!" Hau beamed. "Those bird-people put up a good fight, but after I beat them all they treated me to tea and lunch, telling me how strong me and my Pokemon were. Then I hauled up to that other shrine and fought Sanae. Man, I didn't realize she had such a big collection already!"

_That wouldn't surprise me _, Reimu thought. Sanae had been going on about Pokemon at length ever since last month, and the last time Reimu visited they had set up a petting zoo full of Pokemon Sanae had caught, and like her shrine they had an on-site healing machine and PC. The gondola had also been upgraded, and Sanae was also in talks with contractors to replace it with a tram. Sanae had really jumped into this world head-first, and was having the time of her life.

Reimu shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. She swapped in the Pokemon, Sanae, the only member of her team she hadn't used yet this fight. "I suppose any sufficiently tough person could overcome Youkai Mountain," she said, "but it takes a special kind of fighter to overcome me." She reached out her hands. "Now, show me your bond with her!"

Hau smirked. "I will." At that moment, he flashed his Z-Ring, which brimmed with energy. Doing the Dragon Dance, Z-Power flowed into Meiling, who took a fighting stance, rattled the scales on her tail, then jumped into the air.

Reimu was taken aback, and thought back to her battle with Cynthia earlier that day, and how her assumptions on type advantage were betrayed by what actually happened. But Arcovenant had wings, and could engage Sanae in the air; surely this Kommo-o didn't have that capability, so she thought the fight's outcome would be clearer. Now, though, she was bearing witness to the species' unique Z-Move, one which was told among Alolan oral traditions for generations.

Reaching out her arms, Meiling unleashed powerful shockwaves, so loud Reimu was forced to cover her ears and wince, while Sanae was ravaged by them, knocking her out of the air and forcing her down on all fours. Afterwards, Meiling crashed down, beat her chest and roared as an aura flared around her.

"How's that?" Hau asked. "Clangorous Soulblaze! Now she's even more powerful!" He pointed his finger at Sanae. "Crush her, Meiling!"

Meiling was smart enough to realize that, even grounded, Sanae was still quick on her feet and could evade physical hits. Thankfully, Hau had chosen to train her not as a physical fighter as Reimu expected, but rather a magic-user. And one of these magical techniques was something Reimu had come to be familiar with: cupping her hands, a blue ball of energy formed, which she then fired like a Hadouken at Sanae, Aura Sphere. The attack locked onto Sanae, following her movements and smacking her on her side, knocking her over and causing her to tumble a bit before coming to a stop, lying on the ground.

Reimu could tell, despite Sanae's injuries, that she wasn't quite knocked out. Hoping to cheer her on, Reimu threw her a berry. "C'mon!" she encouraged. "Don't let her get you down! You've been down once already today! You can do it!"

"Give it up," Hau taunted. "She's powered up right now. She could tear through your team if she really wanted to." He wasn't bluffing: other than Sanae, Meiling's moveset, which also included Flamethrower and Flash Cannon, could line up super-effective hits against everything Reimu had, so losing Sanae had high stakes; even if he were down to his last Pokemon, Hau could still turn the fight around dramatically. Reimu wasn't willing to let things get to that, so she kept egging Sanae on.

Hau raised his hand. "Good job! Now, finish her off!" He directed her to use Clanging Scales, so she held out her hands and rattled the scales on them to prepare for the attack.

In her efforts to get Sanae up, Reimu didn't realize the berry she had thrown was a Petaya berry. It gave Sanae enough of a boost to open her eyes, weakly open her mouth, and fire a supercharged Ice Beam that cut through the air and struck Meiling, freezing everything below the neck in a block of ice.

"...HUH? WHAT?" Hau shouted in shock.

Reimu glared, and smirked as she readied a Flyinium-Z. "You should have just had her strike, not talk about how you're going to win." Doing the dance, Z-Power flowed into Sanae, who managed to wrench herself up onto her feet, flap her wings, and gather just enough determination to shoot up into the air, twinkle like a star, then come barreling down like a missile toward Meiling. In one momentous blast, she slammed into the dragon, sending dirt and rock flying everywhere around the impact site.

As the dust cleared, the trainers and the professor looked back. Sanae staggered out of the rubble back towards Reimu, haggard and covered in dust marks, but still conscious. Meiling, on the other hand, lay sprawled out on the ground, unresponsive. It was clear: she had been knocked out, Reimu was the winner, and Hau got completely swept.

Dropping to his knees, Hau couldn't believe that, even at his best and hardest, not only was it not enough to overcome Reimu's team, he couldn't even score a single knockout. Even the professor was dumbfounded at just how much her team had absolutely ravaged Hau's.

"Oh Hau, still so much to learn," she said, somewhat in pity. She spun her gohei behind her back like a helicopter rotor. "Like I keep saying, I've been in the ring longer than you've been alive. You have a rather long way to go still before you can hope to top me."

Hau seethed. "You… you…"

"Heh, I what?" Reimu asked, tilting her head.

Hau got up and smiled while fixing his hair. "You did great."

Reimu was confused. "Err…"

"I wasn't actually gonna try and take the throne," he explained. "I'm just a kid, still gotta go to school, see stuff, don't have time for that kinda job." He then looked at her face. "Also they told me about how you're the reincarnation of the prince. Honestly, after everything that's happened, they could tell me anything and I'd believe it. And, well, you're pretty good too, so I thought of course you deserved that throne! If I actually thought you'd lose, I would've thrown the fight." He looked down. "But MAN, I didn't think you'd be _that _fierce!"

Reimu stepped forward. "Then… why did you fight me?"

Kukui grinned. "'Cause he realized the other day he's never really challenged you to a real fight since the day you got you starters, and he wanted to get it in as soon as he could!"

Reimu looked at him. "And you, Professor… why are you here too?"

"I just got off talkin' to the contractors," he explained. "I did head up this project, after all." He smiled. "And I'll say, the way you had Stardust fight there…" He turned to face the League. "Back in the day, the natives chose the summit of this mountain to be where the Island Challenge ended, to honor Solgaleo and Lunala. They thought that by having fights at the top of Alola's highest mountain, they could get as close to the sun and moon as possible and please the two gods. It's only fitting that at least one of them finds themselves in the hands of the one with the soul of the man who started it all."

"Did you practice that in the shower?" Reimu joked, and the three laughed.

Reimu looked at Hau again, and told him, "hey, Hau, please don't get down just because you lost. I watched you crush 'Ace Trainers' flat with your team as we went around. You have a strong bond with them, and they all love you for the strong trainer you are. You've come so far for a boy like you."

Hau looked up. "...you really mean it?"

"I do," Reimu said sincerely. "Like I said, I've battled and fought fiercely for a long time. It's not that you're not good, far from it. It's just that you're pretty much a king that chose to fight a god, if that makes any sense. You've never battled opponents who have had to fight for their lives and those of innocents, nor have any of those trainers ever had to put down rogue gods. Because you trained alongside me, I can tell you've picked up most of my fighting spirit, and I can definitely see your grandfather in you, too. You're just like Marisa back in the day; she stuck to me like a burr because she knew I was tough and she could get tough if she hung around me and helped solve incidents." She patted his shoulder. "What I'm saying is, don't give up. Keep pushing your boundaries, and I'm sure one day you actually will give me a run for my money."

Taking Reimu's words in, Hau thought back and thought hard about those crazy two weeks and how strong he had gotten in that short amount of time despite being a kid new to battling. Already he was leaps and bounds past Ace Trainers, let alone other kids his age who were likely still learning the basics at trainer school, having a strong team of fully-evolved Pokemon who trusted his skill and judgement deeply. Even Hala, who was his grandfather and had been training Pokemon and testing trial-goers for decades, felt that Hau had already surpassed him or soon would. That Reimu, who owned a legendary Pokemon, was one of the few people he still could not overcome was a testament to just how good he was. He wasn't sure how much of it was just innate talent (and he knew he had a lot of talent), but he was certain that without Reimu he would not have come this far this quickly, nor have had those insane adventures, having skirted death by falling and surviving essentially being nuked. If those were his _first _trainer stories, he wondered just what adventures awaited him going forward.

Looking up, he clenched his fist and gave a determined expression. "Who do you think I am?" he proclaimed. "I don't let _anything _keep me down. I'll travel the world and challenge the best if that's what it takes to beat you. If I go down, I'll just get back up. I always wanted to do great things, but you showed me I wasn't thinking big enough; I'm gonna go out there and live up to your example, me and my team!"

"There 'ya go!" Professor Kukui complimented. "That's the Hau I know!"

Reimu smiled softly at the boy's determination and resolve. "Well, you go off and do that. I have a throne to claim."

Kukui called a Charizard, who soon appeared to take them away from the mountain. As it flew away, she could hear Hau yell "I know you can do it!" Reimu waved back as they flew toward the horizon.

With Hau out of the way and no trainers in the mood to fight her, Reimu's path to the League was unobstructed. Nothing now but to march up and face whoever or whatever lay within. And march up she did, defying the biting gusts that whipped around the summit.

As she walked up, she paused, feeling a shake come from her bag. Shrugging it off, she continued, only for the shaking to get more intense and frequent. Wondering what the heck was going on, she stopped to check, at which point all six of her Pokeballs popped out and her Pokemon released themselves, surrounding her in a ring.

She looked around. All of them were looking right at her, seemingly wanting to tell her something. So, she listened to each, one at a time:

Sasha pumped his fist, winked and smirked as he let out a happy grunt, reminding her of the day they met and how strong he'd gotten thanks to her.

Odin spun its magnets around while calling out, bringing to mind the day she found it outside the trainer school, the first Pokemon she actually caught.

Wakasagehime bellowed out, calling back that day back at the trial site and how she felt Reimu was worthy of training a rare and proud Gyarados as herself.

Sanae flew a short circle and chirped. Having been with Reimu since birth and forming an intimate bond almost immediately, it really drove home for Reimu just how much she was her mom, and how Sanae was already at her best despite having been in the world a little over a month.

Anubis put his hands together and posed. He could sense her strong aura and aura powers, and that was why he followed her around until the time was right to join her side. His intuition was rewarded with being trained by a very unique and skilled trainer.

Finally, Reimu looked straight ahead, where Stardust stood tall and mighty above her. Rearing back, it let out a powerful roar which echoed down the mountain in all directions. Just a short time ago, it was a weak and vulnerable Cosmog whom Reimu saved from the clutches of Sphere Doomers. Under her care, it grew into a powerful lion who fused with Sunshine to defeat Starlight and create history. And despite its status as a revered being, it still considered Reimu its worthy and capable master the same as every other member of the team.

All of her friends, brought together and made strong by her. Extensions of her will and obeying her commands, but also powerful and directing her own motions. Together, they worked as a cohesive team which no one could break, each part just as valuable and integral as the other. Just as many people had grown very strong very fast under her guidance, so had these warriors, cementing her as a true friend and leader.

Reimu's heart warmed.

"Thank you," she smiled. "I love all of you, and will until the end of my days. We've come so far and grown so much, we can't stop now. I won't let you down, if you don't let me down." All of then nodded and cried out at once, as if rallying for one last push until victory was at hand.

Reimu managed to recall all of them before continuing up the path. Soon, she found herself at the door to the League, which was guarded by two Ace Trainers and a small obelisk with a pattern on top of it.

"Welcome, brave trainer," one of them greeted. "We've heard of your exploits leading up to this moment."

"Oh please," Reimu said dismissing him, "just drop the theatrics and let me get this over with."

The guards both laughed. "Yes, of course. We'll let you in immediately, you've definitely earned it. But I do warn you, once you enter, you cannot leave until you either win or lose. With that in mind, do you still wish to continue?"

Reimu glanced at her bag, which had her team and was filled to the brim with Full Restores and Revives. "I think I've got what I need."

"Very well," he said. "Please place your Z-Ring hand on this pillar. It will serve as proof that you have gathered all eighteen typed Z-Crystals." Reimu did as instructed. When her fingertips touched the pattern it glowed, causing lines of colored light to stream off of it and up the rock wall surrounding the door. Each light terminated in a symbol representing each of the eighteen types; they even did so in the order in which she collected them, with Normal's symbol lighting first and Ground's lighting last. Once all of them had flashed, there came a *crack* as the door opened inward.

_This is it, _she thought. This was the culmination of her entire journey. Everything, even the fight against Starlight and the incident's resolution, had all led up to this moment. Should she succeed, she would become the Grand Kahuna and hold the Island Challenge's greatest title. She would become trial-goers' final challenge. And worldwide, she would represent Alola's, and really her homeland Gensokyo's, people and trainers as a whole. It was still hard to believe that there was nothing just a couple months ago suggesting that this would all even happen, so it was only natural for her to hesitate just a bit. But she knew there was no going back now: her world had already changed significantly, so there was little harm in going all-in.

Taking a deep breath, she strode in, gohei in hand. The door closed behind her, clicking shut.


	52. The Elite Four, Plus One

Reimu walked down the blue-lit glass bridge suspended above an abyss carved into the mountain, before arriving at a rainbow-lighted central platform with five paths branching from it toward five doors. Above her, the walls of the cavern were studded with glowing blue crystals.

Reimu had barely finished soaking in her surroundings before a female computerized voice addressed her, startling her a bit. "Welcome, challenger," the voice said. "Before you are five trials. You may complete these trials in any order, but you must complete them all before you may proceed to the Grand Kahuna's chamber. Should you lose at any point, you will be escorted out of the premises toward the Pokemon Center near the League. You are invited to attempt this challenge as many times as necessary. We wish you the best of luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor."

Five trials, Reimu thought. That most likely meant that each one had a fight against a trainer behind it. Above each door was an emblem, which she quickly guessed hinted at the kind of trial beyond each door. The furthest right door had a stylized bug emblem against a lime-green background; the door to its left had a ghost against a dark purple one. The furthest left door had a skull and crossbones upon a lighter purple, while the door to its right had an eye design on magenta. The center door, meanwhile, featured a circular symbol, with an outer border divided into purple, yellow, pink and red segments, surrounding an inner green circle. While she could guess the kinds of fights past the other four doors (Bug, Ghost, Poison, and Psychic), the middle door was more cryptic, and its mystery prompted her to attempt it last.

On a whim, she went for the Bug room first. Her team was relatively well-suited for countering bugs, since half her team resisted the type while everyone bar Odin had a super-effective answer to them as well. She felt Sanae would be her best startup, so she put her in the front as she pressed the button opening the door to let her in.

* * *

Inside the chamber was a short set of metal stairs leading up to a central platform. Stepping up the stairs, Reimu caught a familiar sight: a man facing away from her with a black jacket and white frizzy hair.

Guzma turned around, crossed his arms and smirked. "Looks like I caught a challenger on my web!" At that moment, the lime-green floor lit up, a white spider web pattern spread across it, and similar web patterns encircled the arena like a fence, preventing exit back down the stairs. Reimu was committed to this fight now.

Surprised, she stepped forward and said, "I was told there would be strong trainers here, but I wasn't expecting to see you."

"You implying I'm weak?" Guzma shot back. He started laughing, "don't you know who I am? I'm the hated boss who beats you down and never lets up…" He dropped his shoulders and shrugged. "...or, well, at least I was."

"Oh?" Reimu tilted her head.

Guzma adjusted his stance. "Yeah, the truth is, I disbanded Team Skull. Realized it wasn't the best thing, either for me or the grunts. All of them found work in other places, but I still kinda found myself drifting around. That's when Kukui came to me and offered me this position because of how good I was."

Guzma continued, "I don't remember if I said this before, but when I was little I wanted to become a trial captain. I grew up in a broken house with an abusive dad, so going out and catching Pokemon was the only thing that kept me happy. I mostly caught Bugs because they're easy for kids to catch, 'specially kids with no money like me. People say Bugs are weak, maybe even the worst type. But I wanted to prove them all wrong, prove Bugs could be strong if you bring out their hidden potential. That got me to the end of the Island Challenge, but even after winning it, the kahunas told me they didn't think I was Trail Captain material, mostly because I couldn't find a good Totem Pokemon to fill the role. So I got jealous of all the captains, and founded Team Skull to bring together everyone who ran away from home and failed their challenges, to remind myself I wasn't alone in my situation. I honestly thought it would be for the best, but in the end, we all suffered."

Reimu looked down, and thought about some of her youkai friends; many of them were once humans who escaped abusive families and ostracization, and eventually forsook their humanity in an attempt to get revenge. Guzma may very well have gone down that road had he grown up in Gensokyo.

She looked up to Guzma and said, "Yeah… bad backgrounds can be tough to deal with. I've seen it happen myself."

"You nailed it," Guzma said back. "My dad used to beat me with golf clubs, before I turned around, returned the beating even worse than he ever did before ran away. Haven't spoken to him since, although I was recently encouraged to by… ah, who's that big, tall lady with the short green hair and the husky voice?"

"Eiki Shiki, you mean?" Reimu said.

"Yeah, her. Real strange lady. Thought she was a guy at first. She told me my soul would continue to be tormented if I never made amends with him. I thought that was kinda creepy, especially after her friend told me she used to judge dead people. But it got me thinking, 'yeah, she has a point.' My dad was an alcoholic, but I heard from my mom that he's been clean for three years, really regrets what he did and cries every night, and wants to see me again. I was actually on my way to go do that when I bumped into Kukui, who said he was looking for strong trainers to fill Elite Four positions, since the Kahunas thought it would be better for challengers to fight new trainers than just do rematches. And it got me thinking: I could never be a Trial Captain, but I could do something better and easier, since I don't need to set up and maintain a trial or keep a Totem Pokemon; I just need to give people a good battle!"

Reimu sent out Sanae, who glared at Guzma. "What do you think I came here for, tea and biscuits? Let's see what you're made of."

Guzma shook his head. "Took my line right from me." He then sent out Golisopod, who spread its arms out and roared to try and intimidate Sanae.

"Don't think I'm scared," Reimu tisked. "I know that thing's a big baby despite how scary it looks." She ordered Sanae to attack it with Air Slash. As expected, Golisopod wasn't fast enough to dodge it, just shield itself with its hard scales. The cutting winds ravaged it for super-effective damage, and it looked like it was about to retreat as it buckled…

...only for it to get back up, roar again, then shoot Sanae out of the air with Ice Beam.

Reimu jumped back. "Wait, what?!"

Guzma laughed heartily. "Gotcha good, eh? He's not the big baby he used to be. After that day with Hau I trained him hard and helped him face his fears. After that, he's been a fightin' machine! And he's gonna take you down!"

Reimu knew Golisopod's magic attack wasn't the best, so Sanae wasn't down and out, but the Ice Beam certainly took her down a notch. Now, however, she knew Golisopod was exactly as tough as its appearance suggested, so she pulled no punches, ordering another Air Slash as Sanae danced out of range of Razor Shell. Golisopod went down quickly, but Reimu felt it wise to recall Sanae and let her rest before taking on another Pokemon, realizing Guzma had a few tricks up his sleeve.

Thinking about it, she sent out Wakasagehime, whose Hurricane could tear them apart just as well. His next two Pokemon were a Masquerain and an Ariados, neither of which were much of a match for the towering sea serpent, with the latter's Toxic Thread countered by a forceful Hydro Pump.

"Heh, you're pretty good," Guzma conceded with just a tinge of annoyance. "Of course, that stuff was probably a turkey shoot for you. Let's see how you handle _this _." Sending out an Ultra Ball, out popped a Scizor, ready to rumble and snapping its claws threateningly.

"Hm, bringin' out the big guns, eh?" Reimu observed. "Well, Scizor pretty much is only weak to getting burned." Swapping out Waki-Saki, she instead sent in Sasha, who put his fists together and snarled to try and intimidate Scizor, who used the time to use Swords Dance. Reimu felt she knew what was coming, given Scizor was setting up, so without hesitation she ordered Sasha to use Flamethrower. In one thrust, flames erupted from his "belt," catching Scizor mid-Bullet Punch and roasting its butt good.

"Geh," Guzma grunted. "Can't believe you're pushing me into a corner this much. I thought I could at least knock one of your guys out before I lost."

Reimu crossed her arms. "Oh, so you were expecting to lose? You know, a real trainer would never have that attitude. A real trainer always expects to win and is shocked to lose, you know."

Guzma sent out his last Pokemon, Slycant. Reimu figured its Bug/Ice typing would make this quick before she went to brutalize the other trials. But Guzma wasn't willing to let her off that easily. Flashing his Z-Ring and doing the Bug dance, he let Z-Power flow into Slycant, who then fired a massive stream of silk out of its claws, enveloping Sasha, then flailed the cocoon around before diving up and viciously slashing it - Savage Spin-Out.

Slycant landed on the ground with one hand down, confident that it had knocked out its opponent. It turned around, expecting to see Sasha beaten and lying on the ground… Instead, Sasha stood tall, brimming with embers and energy, and glaring at it evilly.

Before it could react, Sasha dashed toward it, performing a series of acrobatic maneuvers as he did so including cartwheels and backflips, launched himself into the air, posing for nonexistent cameras before channeling all the energy into his fist and slamming into Slycant with a devastating fist drop. The force of the move knocked the ice bug out in a single hit, giving the battle decisively to Reimu.

Guzma called Slycant back before looking down, arms crossed and smiling lightly. Meanwhile, Reimu patted Sasha and gave him a succulent Sitrus Berry.

"I knew teaching you Revenge was a good idea," she praised as Sasha ate it up, before realizing Guzma was behind him and scrambled to act tough, realizing he let his guard down. "Oh, you big silly fluffball," Reimu teased as she recalled the visibly-freaking cat.

"So," she said, turning to Guzma, "what do you think? Of the skills of the _prince _, I mean?" She stood there for several moments, fully expecting Guzma to go into another outburst, as he tended to do upon losing.

"...heh."

Guzma looked up at Reimu. "I've never believed in fairy tales. Y'know, where some force comes into a gloomy world and makes everything happily ever after? Certainly not when you've gone through what me and my grunts did. But you came and did exactly that. And not only that, but turns out you're tied up in one of Alola's biggest legends, comin' to end it."

"That was Necrozma's fault," Reimu commented.

"So what?" Guzma responded. "You're the real deal. I knew you were the real deal when we first fought. You said you were a new trainer, but you fought like you've been at it for years. When I went to your island, I met with this orange-haired girl with horns who said she'd known you for a long time, and told me about all the trainin' and crap you were put through and you put yourself through. Somehow, it didn't surprise me that you've killed, but the way you swing between business and pleasure ain't something everyone can do. Only someone like the Alolan Prince could manage that. And you know, we're all glad you've made it. Don't know where I'd be if this all didn't happen."

Reimu smiled. "Well… I'm glad I could be of service. It isn't easy being me, a Hakurei Shrine Maiden."

Guzma came up and shook Reimu's hand. "Don't get cocky now, 'cause whoever has the throne at midnight becomes the Grand Kahuna. Personally, I think only you should have that title, but that ain't my call to make. You still got the others after me. Get to it."

"Yes." Reimu turned around and stepped down the stairs out the door, which locked behind her.

* * *

As she walked back out to the central area, rainbow lights ran along the floor from the door to the middle glass circle, which started faintly strobing red lights. Looking around and wondering which trial she should go for next, she walked to the furthest left room, directly opposite of Guzma's. She put Stardust up front, knowing it'd be well suited for the coming fight. As well-prepared as her team was for Bug-types, it was even better against Poison-types, since she had three immunities and many different ways to strike super-effectively. She was confident Stardust could probably take care of it single-handedly as she went through the door.

Stepping up the stairs to the violet-colored platform, a kid in a green uniform stood crossing his arms and smirking.

"Welcome to the Poison chamber," he said in a low tone. The arena lit up, bubble designs lit up behind him, and a fence seemingly made of purple bones encircled them.

As Reimu stepped forward, the boy introduced himself. "Long time no see, Reimu. Remember me? We never really got around to having that battle at the trainer school, so I'm glad we can finally conduct our match in a place like this."

Reimu thought for a moment, then a name flashed in her head. "Oh, you're that kid Joseph, aren't you? Yeah, sorry about that, I've just fought so many trainers that I can't remember all their names, but I do remember how Lillie's Popplio left you literally mopping your Grimer back up."

Joseph shook his head. "Would you believe me if I said I met with Lillie recently, battled her Primarina and had basically the same thing happen? And even after I knocked her out, her Zygarde came out and cleaned house? Back then, she couldn't control her Pokemon's power, but now she moves and fights in sync with them. I saw how much potential you had and realized how much she and Hau would grow by being with you. But now, I want to see your strength and the strength of your Pokemon. Please challenge me!"

"Alright," Reimu responded. "But if you think Lillie is brutal, I wonder how you'll fare against one of Alola's greatest legends." Sending out Stardust, the mighty radiant lion rumbled the floor and bellowed its mighty roar, forcing Joseph to cover his ears. "Surely a true 'Ace Trainer' from Alola can overcome this most Ultra of Beasts."

Joseph understood he was in trouble from the outset, and not just because of Stardust's imposing appearance: Steel/Psychic Pokemon were the bane of Poison specialists everywhere, due to combining Steel's immunity to the type with Psychic's ability to hit them for super-effective damage. Only things like Steelix and Excadrill were more hated. Joseph knew it was one thing if his opponent was a Metagross. But Solgaleo, one of the two cosmic beings? He had literally no idea what that thing would do to his team.

But man, just imagine the bragging rights if he, of all people, could take this thing down even if he ultimately lost to Reimu. And he had just the 'mon for the job. Tossing a Pokeball out in a spinning curve throw, out popped a literal pile of sludge covered in crystalized gunk: Muk.

"I won't be daunted by your legendary Pokemon," he boasted. "Muk here can shrug off any Psychic blast you try to use against it." He let out his hand. "Now then, Dark Pulse!"

Reimu was quick to react. "Stardust, repel the attack! Light up your mane!" Stardust did as asked, standing tall and proud as its mane shimmered light in all directions, burning away the darkness that Muk attempted to cast from its smog-filled mouth. Once the attack was spent, Stardust retaliated by slamming its paw into the ground, sending a crack surrounded by earth which rose up from the glass floor toward Muk until striking it, burying it and knocking it out in a single hit. Now Joseph knew he was _really _in trouble, if it also knew Earthquake _and _it knocked out his best shot at victory.

Joseph sent out Toxapex, hoping it could withstand Stardust's blows, but although it could tank one Zen Headbutt if it completely hunkered in, Baneful Bunker wouldn't affect Stardust, and trying to have it use Toxic Spikes was an exercise in futility as Stardust just used the attack again. And his Garbodor stood even less of a chance, being knocked out in a single hit before it could even do anything.

"Gaah," Joseph grunted. "I wasn't expecting to get torn apart this badly!"

"That's why I don't specialize in just one type," Reimu taunted. "I don't want to end up like you and have someone come by and wreck my whole team by just having one of their mons W+M1 the whole entire time. You have two Pokemon left. Think they can take me? Think they got any tricks I won't expect?"

Joseph looked down… and smirked. "As a matter of fact, I do." He flashed a fourth ball… a Beast Ball.

"...where did you get that?" Reimu asked. "I thought those were restricted!"

Joseph didn't respond. Instead, he just tossed it, and out came a familiar figure, a wasp-like dragon with blue, glowing eyes, Naganadel. Except this one was colored like a wasp, with yellow-and-black stripes on its body, presumably its shiny color.

"The day your island came into our world, I heard a knock on the door. When I went to answer it, there was this strange doll-like girl who presented this ball to me and then left. I've been taking care of it and training it, although it took me a while to figure out how to get it to evolve. I didn't think it could, until I found it could learn Dragon Pulse for some reason. Since I evolved it, I've been trying out all sorts of different strategies, and I think I found the perfect one."

"Let me guess," Reimu cut in, "Nasty Plot plus Sludge Bomb, Fire Blast and Draco Meteor?"

Joseph jumped back in shock. "Wait, how'd you know?"

"Because I've already dealt with one like yours," she added. "I've noticed a lot of trainers think alike, and tend to arrive on training their Pokemon mostly the same way. I've learned to take advantage of that, and as it turns out it applies even against Ultra Beasts." She let out her hand. "Now then, attack!"

Naganadel had no time to set up, so it was forced to bombard Stardust immediately with Fire Blasts. Granted, they _were _effective… just not as effective as Joseph would have wanted. Reimu was able to sneak in her one allowed Full Restore before Stardust finished it off with yet another Zen Headbutt.

Now down to his last Pokemon, Joseph knew he'd basically already lost: this one, in tests, fared very poorly against Steel-types. Nevertheless, he never conceded; he always saw his matches out to the end. So he produced a second Beast Ball, which Reimu took notice of.

"Now how do you have two of those?" Reimu asked. "Like I said, aren't those kinds of balls restricted?"

Joseph responded, "I visited Aether Paradise recently, and met with the president herself. She invited me to tea with her and her kids, and they told me about rumors of a strange creature in the Diglett's cave. She gave me this Beast Ball, saying it was the only way I could catch it. She also told me it was dangerous, but also that the International Police and them had a bounty out for it. Neither she nor her kids wanted to do it themselves, but they thought a brave trainer like me could catch it and train it like my own."

"Well then, let's see it," Reimu said flatly. "I don't have all day."

Joseph agreed. Throwing the Beast Ball out, it produced…

Reimu froze.

A jellyfish-like creature floated in the air in front of her, its "cape" gently rocking left and right. Its glass bulb head was existent yet empty. A helmet and a cape, seemingly without a body, without meaning.

Her Aura flashed, catching her in surprise. When she looked back up, she sensed something familiar. Memories flashed into her head.

_"What are you?" she asked forcefully. The creature gave no reply. _

_"Are you a youkai? If you are, and you did this, then I, the maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, must destroy you for your crime against the barrier." _

_Again, no reply. It just stared at her listlessly... or maybe it wasn't, it didn't seem to have eyes. _

_"You are defying the laws set forth by the erectors of the Hakurei Border. If you do not answer –" _

_"...nihhhiiihhhhihhhiiiihhhhhhhhhhhh" It made a sound, and a slight backward jerking motion, which made it look like its "cape" was blowing forward. It then lunged at her, and she took a defensive stance, but instead of physical contact, reality seemed to flicker for just a moment. _

_She looked behind her, and the creature was making its way into the abyss, like she wasn't even there. _

_The creature emerged from the wormhole, and everyone was frozen in place. No one dared to speak, afraid that they might agitate it. Reimu, the closest person to it, stepped back slightly, wide-eyed. What was this thing? she wondered. Up to this point, she was convinced that what she saw in the wormhole was some sort of hallucination or dream, given the dreamlike feel of the experience, but being faced with the creature again made it clear: this was real. _

_The creature began to drift around slightly, seemingly without caring about anyone or anything around it, flickering occasionally as well. That was when it vocalized for the first time. _

_"Venonihl…" It made the same haunting cry it made in the wormhole. A sense of dread built up in Reimu's stomach. Then, it flickered and suddenly drifted forward quickly, toward Reimu. _

"Are you okay?" Joseph asked her.

Reimu, still aghast, realized something: this Nihilego before her now was the same one she met in Ultra Space that day she was transported here, and if that wasn't enough, the same one that attacked her back at Aether Paradise. A being lost in space, the same as her, but uncaring about having been cast from whichever realm it had come from. Its only purpose was to find something to bind to and form a symbiotic relationship with, lacking its own ego. Its toxins let it tap into the inner psyche of whomever it bonded with, drawing out their deepest, subconscious thoughts and desires, in many cases twisting them as well, as had happened to Lusamine. A being with a soul and an identity, but lacking an ego. Truly, **Nihil-ego**.

Without really thinking, she ordered Stardust to smash it with Sunsteel Strike, the lion's radiant metal mane and skin resisting the toxins as it crashed into it. It seemed as though Nihilego was not meant for physical engagements, because that one strong hit knocked it out, giving Reimu the match.

Joseph fell to his knees and put his hands on the ground. Reimu waltzed up to him, staring blankly.

"I…" he gasped. "I can't believe… even my best wasn't enough…"

"Looks like the star student of the Trainer's School still has much to learn," Reimu quipped. "Still, I admire your dedication and resolve to even try to face me and my team, especially given that you specialize in Poison-types." She slung her gohei over her shoulder. "But… Why do you specialize in them? It doesn't strike me as a very strong type?"

"You could call it, like brother like sister," said a familiar voice strutting up the steps. Both Reimu and Joseph faced the person it came from.

"Big sis?" Joseph said in surprise.

Plumeria looked at him. "I heard you were selected to be an Elite Four member, so I came here to come see you in action. But it looks like I'm too late."

Reimu cocked her head. "You two are siblings?"

"That's right," Plumeria affirmed.

Joseph looked up at her. "You… I didn't think you'd actually come back… not after you went with Team Skull!"

Plumeria shook her head. "It's just like I said. I wasn't rebelling against mom and dad when I left to go join them. I only did it because I wanted to look after those kids, because no one else would. Now that Team Skull's disbanded and everyone's living a better life, I can move on and do the things I want."

Reimu turned to her. "Right… I recall Remilia saying something about hiring them all to help out around the mansion."

"I helped negotiate that, me and Guzma did," Plumeria told her. "She also gave me a dealer job at her casino, to help me pay for college."

"But can't mom and dad just do that?" Joseph asked her. "They have a lot of money, and they still love you."

"I know," Plumeria said. "But I want you to have all that money for school. I've proven I can function on my own, and I want to keep that up. Mom and dad aren't made of money, and I don't want to be a burden on them if I don't have to."

Reimu crossed her arms and nodded. "As I said before, you're a very thoughtful and caring person."

Plumeria smiled. "Thank you." She put her hand on Joseph's shoulder. "I get it from being a good big sister."

"She's awesome," Joseph said. "I saw how good she was with Poison-types, and when I was first learning how to battle she let me use them. So I just kind of went down the same path. Sure, they may have their disadvantages, but if I can overcome the Pokemon strong against them fair and square, I can overcome anyone using anything."

"Sounds like someone I know," Reimu smirked. Few things pleased Reimu more than seeing adversity seekers, perhaps because she was kind of one herself, as much as she didn't care for her harsh training at times. There was just something honorable about powerful and skilled fighters only challenging opponents stronger than themselves. Perhaps that's where her soft spot for Marisa came from.

* * *

Reimu shook Joseph's hand and left the two siblings to their own devices. The floor light leading from the room flowed to the center, adding yellow lights to the strobing red. Two down, three to go. She looked across to the Ghost room next to Guzma's, and after healing up and placing Sasha at the front, she strode right in.

The arena in this room gave off a dark lavender glow, and stepping up the stairs Reimu caught sight of a blonde lady, with straight locks stretching down to halfway down her back, wearing a black, v-neck cocktail dress which reached down to the floor, with black high-heels and black gloves, and wearing thin red lipstick.

Really, if it weren't for the single braid with a green ribbon and the stylized witch hat, Reimu would hardly have recognized her, and if there was any further doubt…

"Welcome to the witch's den!" Marisa bellowed. A mosaic of mushrooms emerged from behind her while the arena was surrounded by a ring of ghostly purple haze.

Reimu stepped forward, remarking to the witch, "y'know, you never did strike me as the sort of person who would wear anything that showy. Why the sudden change? Are you trying to impress someone?"

Marisa tipped her hat. "You could say somethin' like that. People always made fun of me for bein' short and petite, but I always considered that part of my charm. But ya know I'm also a fighter, and when I was trainin' my Pokemon, I trained myself as well, drinkin' Moo-Moo milk and startin' a regimen of fifty push-ups, fifty sit-ups and a five kilometer run every day to keep up with those rascals. That and a magic mushroom protein shake I came up with made me grow several inches, plus," she flexed her arm, "check out these muscles!"

"I can tell," Reimu observed, seeing well-defined abs poking up through the dress, although it also didn't leave much else to the imagination. Reimu always felt Marisa didn't take the best care of herself, but didn't think Marisa taking her health seriously would cause her to grow nearly a foot taller in the space of a month. Reimu was almost envious. Almost.

She put her arms to her side. "I'm assuming that's why you're here?"

Marisa said dismissively, "nah, someone, I don't know who, I guess put in a good name for me and all the stuff I did solvin' incidents and getting into fights, and I was able to back it up with my skills. But to think I'd be facin' ya here today!"

"Life finds a way," Reimu commented. "A way to put rivals together given half a chance."

"Oh, so we're rivals now?" Marisa smirked. "To think you'd consider me to be enough on your level to be your rival. I can't help but feel proud."

Reimu shook her fist in annoyance. "I can't help but want to punch you."

Marisa laughed. "Of course you don't. But, rivals or no, you've been a big influence on me. Don't want you to forget that. If it weren't for you, I'd just be some loser kid in the village livin' offa daddy's money sellin' eel or that crap. Wallowin' in bein' launched away from home and never goin' back. Instead, I was there helpin' ya beat up goddesses. I was motivated to study magic and pick apart life's secrets, ready to go against natural law to do so. I got engaged to the best, smartest girl I could ask for. Heck, I even got a kid who's also Space Jesus. All because you just jumped into incidents without a care, in the forest rippin' rogue youkai to shreds, and I wanted to be just as big a badass as you."

Reimu was silent. Then, she chuckled.

"I see," she smiled. "I'm glad I could be there to set an example." She bared Sasha's Pokeball. "But if you want to consider yourself my rival, then you'd best show me who you and your partners are and beat me in battle."

"Was just waitin' for the cue," Marisa affirmed, spinning a ball on her finger while her teeth gleamed. "I'll show you there's absolutely nothin' ordinary 'bout this magician! Now, face Merlin!" She tossed the ball out, revealing the aforementioned Mismagius, ready to battle.

Reimu sent out Sasha, who smashed his fists together ready to throw down. "My friend here can punch Ghosts. I hope you're ready for that."

"I don't have to be ready for it!" Immediately, she flashed her Z-Ring, pouring power into Merlin until he flashed, surrounded in Z-Power and sporting a menacing look. A ball of crackling energy started to form in front of him, drawing energy until it was his size and glowing faintly in rainbow colors.

Reimu's eyes widened when she realized what Merlin was about to do.

"Sasha!" she shouted, diving aside. Sasha barely had time to register what was going on before a titanic rainbow laser engulfed him - Master Spark. The attack was so intense Marisa had to face away from it.

Once the attack died down and the sparks cleared, both of them looked back, only to see Sasha was missing. Marisa was confused. "Where'd it go?" she asked, scratching her head. She got her answer when Sasha came out of nowhere to strike at Merlin with a Revenge-powered Double Axe Handle, knocking the physically fragile Mismagius in one hit.

"Tch," Marisa grunted as she recalled her Pokemon.

"Nice job countering it," Reimu said to Sasha, fist-bumbing him. She turned to face the witch. "I wasn't expecting your Master Spark as a Pokemon attack, but it's as predictable as always."

Marisa clenched her teeth and her fist, before regaining her composure and fixing her hat. "Er… well, that wasn't even my big guns!" She insisted.

"Oh?" Reimu asked skeptically. "What are your 'big guns' then?"

"_Not_ this, 'cause I feel my big guns would be unfair if I took it out this early! Check it out!" She threw out her second Pokeball. Out popped a chimera just like Gladion's Silvally… actually, it _was _a Silvally, but with a dark purple head crest signalling its Ghost-typing.

"Gladion and Lillie ain't the only ones with Silvallys!" she boasted. "I snuck down into the basement and took the last one for myself. Now we three Aether kids each have one!"

"What does your mother think of that?" Reimu asked her.

"She… she absolutely _loves _it! Loves that we're givin' these things lives! Loves that 'failed experiments' could be repurposed as gifts to her kids. But that ain't important now. The only thing that's important is that Sandalphon here crushes you and your Pokemon!" With a swing of her hand, she commanded Sandalphon to attack Sasha, slashing with its sharp claws and biting with its fangs. Sasha retaliated in kind, ready to fend off this chimeric beast and force it to the ground like a real man. Besides claws and jaws, Sandalphon could also use Air Slash and Ice Beam, moves Sasha didn't care much about as he pinned it to the ground in a half-Nelson and repeatedly headbutted it until he was sure it was down. He then finished it off with a moonslaught just to make sure.

Sasha stood back up, cracking his knuckles while baring the scars his opponent had managed to leave behind while Marisa recalled her Pokemon. Marisa stood silently, before saying, "you know what, screw it. Big guns time!" So she threw out her third ball. Reimu wasn't too worried about what this "big gun" was, figuring it was just a Gengar or something else Sasha could reliably handle.

Instead, out emerged a diminutive black-grey figure with piercing orange eyes and a seemingly timid expression. It struck a fighting pose, ready to do battle. A memory flashed into Reimu's head: she recalled seeing this kind of Pokemon back at the abandoned megamart, where it possessed the Sawsbuck head.

"What is that?" she asked Marisa.

Marisa grinned and put her arms to her sides. "This right here is Marshadow. It's one-of-a-kind, and another legend here in Alola. Bumped into it while I was training with Suika on the side of Youkai Mountain recently, and it took out nearly everything I had before I put it down myself with my stars, lasers and bare hands. It might look like a little coward, but it packs a real punch!"

"We'll see about that," Reimu retorted. She ordered Sasha to use another attack, before Marshadow, in an instant, shot through the air and struck a pressure point on Sasha's neck causing him to freeze up. Both him and his master were surprised and shocked.

"Er, what the?!" Reimu exclaimed.

"See what I mean?" Marisa boasted. "That thing is a master in exploiting pressure points to take down opponents with less effort than just brute-forcin' them." She held out her hand. "Now, show that bara-kitty what you're made of!" Marshadow looked back and nodded, before its "helmet" turned green, its expression turned fierce, and it lunged at Sasha, hitting stars in the shape of a "Z" before jumping up and seemingly phasing through his body, touching the ground behind him.

Silence, for a moment, as Sasha managed to turn back around to attack Marshadow, before it said something.

"お前はもう死んでいる."

"何?" Sasha responded, before white lights surrounded him and he exploded into a purple and white column. It was so bright and forceful, both Reimu and Marisa were forced to turn away. Looking back, Reimu could see Sasha was missing.

"...Sasha?" she called out. She looked up… and down fell a figure, face-first in the ground with a _thud. _

Sasha, disheveled, wearly got back up on his feet. The force of the attack had left him minus all of his fur, leaving only a white undershirt and jelly donut-printed boxer shorts.

Marshadow's face contorted, before it fell to the floor rolling around laughing at Sasha's misfortune. It was having so much fun, it didn't notice an unamused Sasha walk up to it before he grabbed it, looked it in the eye, then threw it into the ground head-first before collapsing on top of it, which somehow knocked the ghost out.

Reimu recalled Sasha, annoyed that her Dark-type was down but confident that the match had tilted in her favor now that Marisa's trump card had been defeated. Anubis managed to dispatch Gourgeist and Froslass with Blaze Kick before Marisa's Chandelure bested him, but was swiftly dispatched by Wakasagehime's Hydro Pump.

Reimu spun a Pokeball on her finger. "Looks like you still have a ways to go before you can truly be my rival," she quipped, "but an A for effort I suppose."

Marisa clenched her fist and it shook for a moment, before she regained her composure. "Damn it… was my technique not good enough? I knew it! I need to jack it up to a hundred push-ups, and hundred sit-ups and a ten kilometer run each day!"

Reimu shook her head. "I don't think it's that at all. There's nothing wrong with how you _trained _your Pokemon, although I will admit I've never seen a Chandelure use Ice Beam before today. But your bond with them is lacking."

"My bond?" Marisa wondered.

"Pokemon battles aren't like danmaku battles where you just rely on your own power to beat the other person. You have to really learn your Pokemon, get a feel for them, flow with then and fight like a coordinated team. Having the strongest attacks won't get you far, either. There's a level of strategy involved in reading the opponent and countering their actions, controlling the fight if you will."

Marisa thought for a moment, and came to a eureka moment.

"Hm. I see. Well, I did just recently get these guys. Maybe I just gotta get to know 'em more like friends."

"Your intuition is sharp as always, if only you'd use it more." Marisa frowned at a snickering Reimu for a moment, but she was right: Marisa was gifted with brains, which was a large part of her surviving until now.

She stood up tall and proud, making it clear once again that she was no longer height-challenged (she now slightly edged out Reimu), and grinned. "Guess I just gotta keep doing what I always do: study, train, battle. Maybe do some more mushroom hunting on the side."

Reimu crossed her arms. "That reminds me, you still studying magic?"

"Now more than ever!" Marisa boasted. "It's just as Alice said: learnin' magic is super-easy in this world, and with all the supernatural stuff just floatin' everywhere there's so much to uncover, so many places to see!"

"And a lot of loot to plunder, I would imagine," Reimu added.

"That too! But, that's not all: me and her recently got accepted into Hammerlocke University's Chemistry program, and I'll also be doin' astronomy on the side."

Reimu was surprised, and rightfully so; Hammerlocke was one of the world's top colleges, and that Marisa and Alice, who didn't even have formal educations, would get accepted was doubly shocking, but then again they both could totally handle it and there was most likely some family money and connections involved.

"That's all the way in Galar, right? You sure you can handle being away from here?"

"Oh, c'mon, you say that like I'm goin' away forever. Does big, tough Ms. Hakurei have that much of a soft spot for me-"

"Stop," Reimu said flatly, whacking Marisa with her gohei.

"Ow, ow, okay," Marisa complained. "But you get the idea, right?"

"I do, yes," Reimu said annoyed. "You've called this place home for nearly a decade and a half, and you finally reunited with your family. I'm surprised you're turning around and taking on a new adventure so quickly."

"Well, you know me, I'm always willing to throw myself into new messes," Marisa smiled.

"That much is true," Reimu chuckled.

"I'm gonna pull my weight as a Kirisame and show everyone I'm not to be messed with. One day I'll beat you fair and square and you're gonna complain I cheated."

Reimu smirked. "Well, I don't know about _that, _but…" Reimu didn't really care; win or lose, she was just happy to see Marisa keep growing in the face of everyone telling her "no," defiance which was the sole reason why she was where she was now.

Shaking Marisa's hand, Reimu nodded, and began to turn away, before Marisa called out.

"Hey, before you go, I wanna give you this." She opened her palm and presented Reimu with a Z-Crystal.

"Is this it? The one you created, I mean?"

"Yup!" Marisa chirped. "The Marisium-Z! Just use it with any Pokemon that knows Dazzling Gleam, and you too can blast apart things you don't like with the power of love!"

"I, er… thanks." Reimu accepted it to be polite, even though she herself saw little reason to use the Master Spark.

"I also stole your entire supply of sake a couple of days after you disappeared and gave it all to Yukari to ship off to Ethiopia, where the ship ended up bein' raided by Somalian pirates who used it as bait to catch Logan Paul's tits."

Reimu tilted her head. "So THAT's what happened to it. I was wondering how you were gonna get back at me for the mushrooms a couple months ago, but now I'm more curious as to how you know their whereabouts after you stole it."

"I got methods," Marisa said. No arguing with that, Reimu supposed.

Reimu walked down the steps and exited out the door to the next challenge. Not long after, a familiar voice echoed through the chamber.

"There you are!" Marisa turned around and looked up, and saw a _very _pissed-off Aya diving at her. Landing on the ground, the tengu reporter glared at Marisa with extreme menace.

"If you're not a challenger, I'm gonna hafta ask ya to leave," Marisa said.

"I don't give a shit," Aya shot back, "I'm here to make you answer for THIS!" She pulled out her phone and pointed at all the Instagram comments about compromising pictures of her in her room with her face beet-red and desperately trying to cover up her lacey black bra and panties, giving good glimpses of her shapely body with perfectly-proportioned curves in all the right places.

"I mean, I had to get revenge somehow," Marisa shrugged.

"What do you mean?" Aya demanded.

"Remember that one time 'round Christmas when you and Sanae got me drunk and had me go to Kourin's place dressed in a skimpy Santa costume? You didn't think I'd let that slide, did 'ya?" A Rotom appeared from behind her at that moment. "So I had Rotom here invade your phone, take some embarrassing pics and post 'em to your account so the whole world gets to see your underwear."

"T-t-that's sexual harassment! I can press charges you know!" Aya stammered.

"Try it, I left no evidence," Marisa taunted. "And like a proud tengu like you would actually do that. You gotta problem, you'll have to fight me fair, sister!"

Aya, shaking her fist, asked, "and Sanae? Did you ruin her for marriage too?"

"Nah, she's too pure for that," Marisa claimed. "Instead, I just baited a buncha Beedrills to the Moriya Shrine on a day they were closed. Their screams of terror were priceless, I tell 'ya, 'specially Kanako flingin' onbashira everywhere tryin' to get rid of 'em."

Aya continued to seethe in anger. "OK, look, I'm sorry for back then, that was very shameless and embarrassing for you. But… this is going _waaay _too far!"

"If 'ya can't take it, don't dish it, is all I can say," Marisa teased.

"Alright, that's it! Your ass is mine!" Aya got ready to throw a punch, before her phone rang.

Aya sighed. "Hold on, I gotta take this, probably someone at work." She answered the phone. "What?! I'm very busy right now! ...huh? The Voltaire agency? Who are you? ...a modeling firm? You liked the pictures on my account? ...you want me to come down and try out? ...I mean, I guess it's worth a shot… yeah, sure, I can be down there in a flash… okay, bye, oh, wait, huh? ...yeah, sure. Alright, thanks." She hung up and leered at Marisa. "Just to be sure, I will get you one of these days."

"Alright, whatever," Marisa shrugged. "I'll be waitin' for 'ya."

"You are _far_ too casual about defiling a millennium-old tengu," Aya hissed as she flew off.

* * *

There were two doors left, the one in the middle and the one just off to its left. Reimu was still set on saving the middle for last, so she walked through the Psychic door. Before stepping up the platform, the magenta glow of the arena was already radiating upward. Once again, Sasha would act as her go-to, since his typing let him shrug off any Psychic blasts directed at him. If nothing else, nothing on her team was weak. So she stepped up.

Standing on the other side was a small girl with blonde hair cut in a bob, a yellow striped shirt, white cargo shorts, and dark sunglasses obscuring her eyes. She peeked over them, revealing yellow eyes that briefly glinted gemstone red and blue.

"Welcome to the Psychic chamber." Behind her, magenta renditions of the Sunne and Moone symbols orbiting an eye lit up, while pixelated pink, cyan and yellow squares encircled the arena while making computer sounds.

Reimu stepped forward, asking the girl, "...Sunshine?"

"Yeah," Sunshine answered. "Surprised? I was too. But professor Kukui couldn't ignore me after what happened in Ultra Gensokyo, so he offered me a spot here even though I was a kid. Mom signed off on it, of course."

"Doesn't make me doubt you as a trainer," Reimu remarked. "If anything it gives me more reason to be cautious." Reimu had, after all, seen Sunshine's godlike power and finesse as a trainer firsthand, and knew from experience the deadliest opponents were those who looked cute and nonthreatening. "But it's one thing to talk. Let's see it firsthand." She sent out Sasha, ready to rumble.

"Yes, let's," Sunshine affirmed. She sent out her own startup, Kartana, which caught Reimu by surprise since Kartana wasn't even a Psychic-type.

"I wanted to give you a special challenge rather than just use Pokemon of the same type," Sunshine explained. "They all know Psychic moves, however, so it still fits."

"I'm sure it does," Reimu replied. She noticed five other balls on Sunshine's belt, four of which probably contained Ichigo, Diancie, Metagross, and most threatening of all, Nebby. The last one was a mystery, so Reimu was ready for it to be literally anything. Regardless, Kartana was easy pickings for Sasha's Flamethrower, so she commanded it's use…

...only for the flames to be met by a rather hefty diamond shield. In the blink of an eye, Sunshine had switched out to Diancie to deflect the attack.

"I knew you would do that," she claimed. "And now you've fallen into my trap."

Crap, Reimu realized. Sunshine could read minds. That meant she could predict her strategy. How in the world was she supposed to counter that? Act on instinct?

...of course.

Sunshine held out her hand, commanding Diancie to assault Sasha with Diamond Storm. In a flash, a flurry of diamonds whipped through the air, raining down on Reimu's side of the field like a downpour of furious hail. Once all was said and done, Sasha was buried under a pile of diamond shards, surely signalling his defeat.

However, Sunshine felt something wrong with his aura. Before she could react, light began to shimmer from underneath the glistening pile, before a silvery-white laser cut through them, striking Diancie directly. The 4x super-effective Flash Cannon was too much for it to take, causing it to fall and forcing Sunshine to recall it. At the same time, the diamonds were blasted apart before evaporating, revealing a barely scratched Anubis who had swapped in at the last second to tank the attack.

Reimu held out her hands… and for the first time, thin, blue, wispy flames trickled out of her fingertips as she put them together and took a deep breath.

She opened her eyes, and stared straight at her opponent.

"Couldn't read that, could you?"

"I… I don't get it," Sunshine exclaimed.

"I was born with aura-sensing powers. I almost never used them, until now. With them, I can act on instinct and stay ahead of your mind-reading to lay on the pressure." She cast out her hand. "Now, hit us with your best shot!" she said as her Key Stone began to flash.

Sunshine fixed her sunglasses. "Very well. No need to hold back. If you're going to fight by instinct, then I have no choice but to up my game as well!" She twirled around, curve-tossing her second ball, which cracked open just as Anubis's Mega-Evolution completed and him and Reimu were in sync. Before them, a towering deer with rainbow antlers, which spread its legs out as it screeched upward, kicking up a dramatic wind around it.

"You gave me life, now let's work together to give them hell," she communicated with Xerneas.

"As I said when you faced and captured me, your powers have grown so much in so little time," it responded. "Very well." Its antlers lit up as the Geomancy circle lit up around it. "My power is yours, and your power is mine." Drawing upon the power of the runes etched into the floor, Xerneas summoned a huge amount of power, ready to take the opposing trainer and her Pokemon on.

Xerneas proved a nimble opponent despite its size, leaping and bounding all over the place attempting to buck Anubis, but with his power combined with Reimu's, they could stay one step ahead of Xerneas's actions, dodging blows and kiting the deer looking for an opening. Xerneas possessed a massive aura profile, not surprising given endless life was born from it, making its attacks and actions easy to read. Even so, actually finding an opening for a Flash Cannon proved difficult, especially once Xerneas began slugging Moonblasts once it realized physical attacks weren't working.

It was then that Reimu decided to try something else: Aura was a form of life energy. Perhaps it was possible to feed off of the energy Xerneas was casting. So Anubis flew high up and assumed a battle meditation stance, drawing in power such that Aura flowed around him like wildfire. This had a negligible effect on Xerneas's fighting ability, but eventually Anubis built up enough that he dove back into battle, unleashing a supercharged Flash Cannon that blew Xerneas back. It wasn't a one-hit kill, but it did weaken the deer enough that it could be finished off with another attack.

Sunshine gritted her teeth. She hadn't expected Anubis would be able to absorb life energy in that manner and convert it to Aura. Now she was really done playing. She sent out Metagross, mega-evolved it, and had it go all-in to take this monster down. Metagross came equipped with powerful attacks like Earthquake and Meteor Mash, but Sunshine rolled up her sleeves and let it tap into her own power. And with that, Metagross put its claws together, charged up Photon Geyser, and fired.

The blazing hot light ball grazed Anubis as he quickly dodged it, the searing heat felt on his skin, and which Reimu also sensed. Sakuya couldn't dodge a move like this with her time-stop abilities, making avoiding it by pure instinct all the more impressive and speaking to the power of Aura. Anubis then launched off an Aura Sphere to stagger Metagross, before diving in with a forceful Blaze Kick, knocking the eight-armed supercomputer down to the ground where another Aura Sphere knocked it out.

Sunshine realized she was in a pickle, with an unstoppable Aura monster and its trainer sharing a mind and actions tearing through her team like a hot knife through butter. She hesitated to send Nebby out just yet, worried that if Anubis decimated it too then Kartana and Ichigo would stand little chance against the rest of her team. She tried to wear Anubis down using exactly those two: powering them up, she sent them after him, well aware that it was essentially a suicide mission for both.

Sunshine found Reimu and Anubis's Aura bond hard to read in advance, given that they came out as almost instantaneous rapid-fire actions as opposed to a calculated strategy which could be effectively predicted. So instead she was forced to rely on observation and intuition to try and beat them. She quickly realized that the two could only tap into a finite amount of Aura before running out and being forced to recharge. However, the same attacks got stronger the more on the ropes Anubis was. This meant that she had to order her Pokemon not to attack, but rather bait them into using energy-intensive attacks such as huge lasers. Keeping at a distance was the best way to do this, so she commanded Ichigo to remain at arm's length and lob Moonblasts at them, then once she went down to Flash Cannon send out Kartana to dance about at blinding speeds. This would force them to either expend the last of their energy using a ranged attack, or get up close and risk getting shredded up. One disadvantage of the "act on instinct" approach was that it lent itself to rash decisions that could compromise your chances of winning if everything didn't go your way. Even though she was now down to her last Pokemon, this was something she could leverage to turn the fight around.

The approach seemed to pay off, since just after Kartana was knocked out both Reimu and Anubis seemed visibly strained and running low on usable Aura. Now was the time to strike. She sent out her last Pokemon. With its violet, star-dotted and gold-framed wings and moon-shaped head crest, Nebby was ready to rip stuff up. The Moone Pokemon effortlessly parried Anubis's weakening blows, and a single Moongeist Beam was all it took to knock him out.

It took a moment for Reimu to become lucid again as she collapsed to the ground. Before she passed out, she whipped out a special energy bar created by the kappa and practically inhaled it, then chased it with an entire bottle of Pedialyte. This was enough to get her back on her feet and, after shaking out her arms and cracking a few joints, was ready for action again as she recalled Anubis.

Reimu looked at Nebby and realized taking it down without a Mega was going to be a chore. The only thing that matched it in raw power was Stardust, who was weak to Moongeist Beam, and if she lost that, she wasn't sure how much of a chance she had. But she could wear it down, at least.

The best place to start was Sasha, who could easily take on Nebby's crippling Dark weakness. She commanded the use of Darkest Lariat. Immediately, Sasha spun toward

the target, only for Nebby to phase to the side. Sasha tried again, only to get the same result.

"Nebby wields the power of spirits and illusions," Sunshine explained. "It can dodge any attack you try."

Reimu fixed her stance. "Then I guess I'll just have to disable it somehow." Again, she switched out Sasha, bringing Odin and ordering it to use Thunder Wave. Eerie electrical impulses radiated out toward Nebby. It dodged them at first, but the waves soon began short-circuiting its Psychic abilities, and was seemingly having an effect on Sunshine as well. Reimu, confident she had an in, had Odin intensify the waves. Odin gave it everything it had, crippling the moon bat and paralyzing it tip to tip. Unfortunately, this took quite the effort, leaving Odin out of electrical energy and a little tired. Sunshine tried to use a Full Restore to cure the paralysis, but Reimu, not wanting to take any chances, ordered Odin to use Flash Cannon to shoot the bottle out of her hand.

Sunshine jumped back. "You can't do that!" she complained.

Reimu clicked her teeth. "Ain't no rule says I can't."

"True…" Sunshine conceded… there was no rule, and she didn't expect Reimu to use such a below-the-belt tactic… which Sunshine felt the only rational response to was to empower Nebby to use Heat Wave to roast Odin, knocking it out in a single hit.

Once again, Sasha was up to bat, and with Nebby disabled, hopefully he could actually land his attacks this time. With its movement compromised, Nebby tried to fend him off with Moonblasts, which he dodged with repeated backflips. Nebby then used Ice Beam to trap Sasha in an icy fence; Sasha responded by flaring up his belt and unleashing a ring of fire, shattering the ice and sending shards in all directions, including through Nebby's wing. Sure, a relatively minor scratch… but Shadow Shield was very fragile, and even the lightest of nicks was enough to break it.

Which was exactly what Sasha needed to strike with Darkest Lariat.

The blow caused Nebby to fly back, and to lose power. Sunshine looked back and forth between it, Sasha, and Reimu.

"It seems the fight is lost," Reimu boasted. "One good hit and it's down for the count."

Sunshine stared… and smirked.

"You shot my Full Restore out of my hand. An underhanded tactic."

"Hm?" Reimu wondered, fearing something was up.

"That means I can use underhanded tactics too… like _this! _" Immediately, she reached for a brooch on her shirt and ripped it away to reveal the brain crystal in her chest which it concealed. Sunshine then closed her eyes and t-posed, letting the crystal float out in front of Nebby. Sunshine then broke down into lights which surrounded Nebby before the crystal jutted toward and crashed into it, creating a blinding flash. From the flash, emerged two sets of wings, jagged gold feet, a spiky chest, and then finally, a dragon's head. The fully formed light dragon, Ultra Necrozma, bellowed out, sending shockwaves everywhere.

Once Reimu was able to turn back to face her opponent, she realized she was in for pure hell. The last time she saw it in action, the aftermath filled an entire pocket dimension in blinding light, and it curb-stomped a being that had wiped out the teams of six trainers. Now she was taking it on with half a team and no allies, the only saving grace being that one half of the being was severely weakened and it didn't have her shrine maiden powers or the blessings of a crowd backing it up.

She tried to have Sasha attack, but before he could, Sunshine charged up Photon Geyser and launched it, striking Sasha and creating a towering pillar of light. Of course Sasha was knocked back and had to be recalled.

Reimu only had three more Pokemon left that she could use, and two of them didn't fare much better: both Wakasagehime and Sanae were knocked out by Photon Geysers before they could even act. That left her with just one remaining option: the Sunne Pokemon, Stardust. Could it possibly take down this thing?

So, reaching for her last ball, she tossed it out. Out came the radiant Sunne Lion, crashing down on all fours and letting out an earth-shaking roar, ready to take on the very thing it had merged with in order to defeat Starlight.

Sunshine once again charged up and launched out yet another Photon Geyser… yet Stardust, whose mane shone brilliantly with endless light itself, reared back and roared, illuminating its mane and dispelling the attack.

This was it, Reimu thought. This was the opening she needed. Without hesitation, she whipped out the Solgaleum-Z, did the dance, and in moments Z-Power flowed from her into Stardust, who bellowed, lept up, surrounded itself in a powerful corona, and bore down on Sunshine, curling up into a ball in the process which spun at unimaginable speeds.

Sunshine, without time to dodge, tapped into Nebby's power and quickly fired a Moongeist Beam to try and intercept it, the beam colliding with Stardust and seemingly halting its progress as the two forces battled each other in the air. However, the Z-Power of the attack managed to overcome the hastily charged laser, and slowly but surely, Stardust muscled through the laser, picking up steam as Sunshine's focus faltered, until eventually it made contact, creating a mighty explosion of silver lasers which ravaged Sunshine, causing her to cry out a metallic cry of pain as she crashed down to the ground. Soon, she glowed white as a knocked-out Nebby separated from the girl, who lay on the floor next to it.

Reimu recalled Stardust and walked up to Sunshine, kneeling down and feeling her to make sure she was okay. The girl soon stirred, sat back up while groaning, then weakly reached for Nebby's Pokeball to recall it.

Reimu, looking in Sunshine's eyes, smiled. "You okay?"

"...yeah," Sunshine muttered.

Reimu stood back up. "You're really talented. I haven't been pushed into a corner like that in a long time."

Sunshine looked at her. "You too. You have a strong bond with them. And your Aura… you have a strong Aura connection."

"It surprises me too," Reimu laughed. "I always thought it was a useless power. And yet…" She faced away, cupping her hands. Between them, she managed to conjure a fully-formed Aura Sphere, before launching it, creating a blue explosion leaving a mark in the rock wall. "Seems it's my best power now, if it lets me win battles."

"My psychic powers aren't perfect yet," Sunshine admitted, "and it's not like I have anyone to turn to for help, so I have to develop my abilities on my own. Reading Aura is hard. It's like trying to read Dark-types: you really can't. They don't do what you expect them to, and that's why most Psychic moves fail against them. That and the dark cognitive haze that naturally surrounds them is hard to cut through; Aura has the same effect."

Reimu patted her head. "Well, they're certainly good enough to bring a grizzled old fighter like me nearly to her knees. You just have to keep it up. If you do, pretty soon I may not be able to win against you at all."

Sunshine beamed.

"Mom always told me I'm a fighter. I wanted to prove her right. That day, when I bonded with Stardust and you gave me all that power… I just don't know how to describe it. It's like… it's like…"

"It's like the kind of power Izanagi could only _dream _of," Reimu said. "Don't forget you're a dragon, Sunshine. A very special and powerful dragon, the most powerful and revered of all beings. The Great Dragon was just one of many, which the sages formed a contract with because of its unique and powerful barrier abilities. Most are born from a Dragon Stone, which is like an egg." She thought briefly about the Fish Stone she got that one time which hatched two goldfish, which were now a pair of long-lived Seakings in the pond out back behind the shrine, and how she thought it was a Dragon Stone. "You didn't have that origin, but that makes you all the more special. A spark of light shining in a common doll. That spark became you. And thousands of years from now, you'll be an old, powerful deity that people and Pokemon around the world kneel to. You're still practically an infant and wield great power. You need to not only gain more power, but refine and control it. Once you do… I'm sure your moms will be the proudest parents in the whole world."

Sunshine hugged her, her warm body radiating as hot as a solar flare.

"Can you be my godmom?" she asked.

Reimu laughed and blushed. "If you want." Sunshine giggled like the little girl she was, very much contrasting from the titanic light dragon she had been mere moments before, showing Reimu how even though she was a god, she was also still a child at heart, still learning about the world and needing compassion and support. And perhaps Reimu could be her guide, in whatever way she could think of.

* * *

Reimu found herself in the central chamber again, staring ahead at the last door. This was it, she thought. One last challenge between her and the throne. Making sure her Pokemon were revived back up and ready to face whoever was beyond the door with the strange marking, she stepped ahead, the door letting her through like royalty.

The arena here seemed to give off a glow in a multitude of colors, and as she stepped up, she saw why: the Pokeball in the center was green in color, with four differently colored segments of purple, yellow, pink and red surrounding it. But that wasn't the strangest aspect of this chamber.

There was no trainer waiting for her.

She looked around, trying to see if there was some kind of trick, somewhere that a trainer could pop out of to surprise her. She took a few more steps forward, before a fence of differently colored triangles encircled the platform, and a design resembling idols lit up at the end in front of her.

Reimu's breathing picked up as well as her heart rate, anticipating whoever or whatever was about to ambush her now that she was in their grip. Then, when she least expected it…

"Tapu kokokokokokokoko!"

Reimu's head jerked up as Tapu Koko flew in from nowhere, stopping just above the floor in front of her. The two locked eyes for a moment, then Tapu Koko reached out its right claw as if to beckon her.

So, she realized. The guardian of the island felt now was the time to test her in battle. Of course it would; it wanted to see how the Prince's - her - battle skills held up after so many centuries. Very well, she thought. Time to show it what she was made of. And what better way to take it on than the same way the Prince had: calling forth her mighty Solgaleo, Stardust, to beat the guardian into the ground.

As expected, Tapu Koko was fast and furious, zipping around the arena at blinding speeds crackling with electricity. Simply trying to bash it would get her nowhere, she thought. So, focusing inward, she attempted to get a feel for its movement pattern. In her mind, there was a blue blur in front of and behind the Island Guardian. Then, she pointed her finger, directing Stardust to strike where she thought Tapu Koko would pass through. Stardust did as commanded, and just like that Tapu Koko was struck down to the ground.

Tapu Koko was down, but far from out, sending a surge of electricity at its target. Electrons hopped through and across Stardust's metal hide, threatening to shock it to the very core. Fortunately, Stardust was able to use its psychic power to control the conduction and discharge it from its body, minimizing the damage. It then slammed down its paws, sending an Earthquake at Tapu Koko. The downed Tapu could do little to avoid it as it was buried. Injured, Tapu Koko conceded and bowed out of the fight, flying up and settling on a pedestal along the upper wall in front of Reimu, the second from the left out of five.

Just after Tapu Koko fled, another voice echoed in. It was Tapu Lele, fluttering down to the arena from above and flailing its arms.

...aha. Reimu finally understood. This final challenge was a bum rush through all five Island Guardians in order. It wasn't just Tapu Koko; all wanted to see the power of the Prince… all except one, who wanted to judge the Hakurei Shrine Maiden once more.

"I'll show you all who the kahuna here is!" she boasted. She then commanded Stardust to attack. Out of all the Tapu, Tapu Lele was the least equipped to deal with Solgaleo, being weak to Steel and not having much to hit it with. The best it could do was lob some resisted Moonblasts. A well-placed Sunsteel Strike was all it took to strike it down. Like Tapu Koko before it, Tapu Lele settled upon a pedestal, the second from the right.

Next up was Tapu Bulu, flying in with its shell closed in the shape of a bull's head, before opening it and shaking its bell. Before attacking, it bowed at her, seemingly thanking her again for helping it out against the Sphere Doomer causing the blizzard. Its opening move was to summon a bunch of trees and plants from nowhere. They swiftly rushed up to Stardust, ensnaring it in roots, vines and trunks. Bulu then readied an enormous wooden mallet, similar to the one it used to finish off the Sphere Doomer, but also taking the time to manifest yellow engravings of tikis and palms, in a similar fashion to the Miracle Mallet. But just before it could take a mighty swing at the tangle of vines encasing Stardust, a bright glow shone from beheath, before all the plants burned away, incinerated by light from Stardust's shining mane. Stardust avoided the attack before charging Tapu Bulu with Sunsteel Strike once more. Tapu Bulu proved more resilient than the two guardians before it, but the super-effective strike still caused it to stagger, allowing a simple Zen Headbutt to finish it off. After being beaten, Tapu Bulu floated up to the pedestal furthest to the right.

A plume of mist heralded the fourth guardian, Tapu Fini, who emerged from the pink shroud with a cold stare. Compared to the other three who opened with attacks immediately, Tapu Fini was more cautious, setting up Aqua Ring and then attempting to blind Stardust with waves of Muddy Water. It combined this with the pink mist, shifting through it and trying to disorient its opponent. What wasn't Tapu Fini's forte was offense; Stardust was able to muscle through the muddy, silty waves and dispel the mist with its rays. Once it managed to get Tapu Fini cornered, it attacked with Zen Headbutt, leaving a visible crack in Tapu Fini's protective outer shell and causing it to flinch. This let Stardust follow up by smacking it down it its paw, then slamming into it with its full weight, knocking the fourth guardian out. Tapu Fini floated up to the furthest left pedestal.

Reimu sprayed a Full Restore at Stardust and awaited her final opponent. The wait was not a long one: lowering down from the ceiling was a figure, its green dragon-shaped shell open, with crossed arms, a fluffy white tail and a stoic face with a moustache. The sworn guardian of Oma'Oma'o, Tapu Mo'o. In the previous world, it was one of the strongest dragons, themselves the strongest race on the planet, powerful enough to make the old and wise sages cower in fear, direct the storms and winds, travel through barriers and weave the Hakurei Border to safeguard all myths and legends. Even here, where it cut its power down a notch in respect of the other Island Guardians, it was still the most powerful, far older than even the ancient Tapu and possessed of all the things that made it Gensokyo's biggest badass. It was no surprise, then, that even though it was new to this world it had already become the Tapu's leader. It could shrug off Fairy-type moves as though they were gnats shot out of a Nerf gun, meaning none of the others could hope to beat it despite its nominal disadvantage. Now, it stood opposed to Reimu, the Hakuri Shine maiden and former Alolan Prince, as the last trial between her and the Champion's throne.

The last time Reimu had challenged it, she had friends, and it was still recovering from its injuries. Now that it had some time to recuperate and train, and had caught her on her own, it was a far more daunting opponent. But Reimu was trained not to show fear. She and Stardust were steadfast, ready to take it on despite its power.

A wave of Tapu Mo'o's hand conjured a cloud above the arena, which began to pour rain and crackle with lightning. As a dragon, like others of its species, it could control the weather and bend it to its will. It further twisted the cloud until a funnel touched down, which rapidly intensified into a mini-F5 tornado, with winds so forceful they could tear clean through a trailer, then send the tornado right at Stardust. For its part, Stardust's metal skin was composed of a celestial alloy from Ultra Space, far tougher than any man-forged steel. Even so, as the tornado approached, the forceful gusts roaring around it started to push Stardust around, its claws leaving scratches on the floor as it resisted being blown away. Acting fast, Stardust dashed around the tornado, which Tapu Mo'o manipulated in order to chase the white lion. To further complicate matters, it also used its left hand to cast down bolts of lightning to try and box Stardust in.

Seeing itself in a bind, Stardust paused to illuminate its mane, roaring and casting its rays to burn away the clouds. In an instant, the tornado disintegrated into a weak puff of vapor, and the rainstorm cleared. But just as it stopped, Tapu Mo'o sent a psychedelic wave of energy, with tribal symbols and chanting mixed into it, right at Stardust - the exclusive move of the Tapu, Nature's Madness. The force of nature was strong enough to push Stardust back, sending it into the energy fence surrounding the ring, crashing into it and leaving Stardust covered in electrical sparks.

"Stardust!" Reimu commanded, pointing at Tapu Mo'o. "Retaliate! Sunsteel Strike!" And retaliate Stardust did. Getting back up onto its feet, it roared once more, before charging straight at Tapu Mo'o, who shut its shell in defense. The sheer force of the attack was enough to send the green guardian rocketing back into the rock wall, smashing into it and dislodging a massive chunk of olivine from the wall above. Opening its shell back up, Tapu Mo'o then shot up and decked it with a karate chop, shattering the crystal into many pieces.

Flying back to the ring, Tapu Mo'o got ready to take on Stardust, who was now starting to run out of energy due to repeatedly using Sunsteel Strike. As Hong Meiling, aka Rayquaza, had demonstrated, dragons in human or human-like form had a natural aptitude for martial arts, and while it didn't have legs, Tapu Mo'o was more than capable of delivering powerful jabs, chops and throws, striking vulnerable points on Stardust's face in order to subdue it. Once it had the lion down on the ground, it charged up its ultimate move: in the air above, a starry landscape opened up, and out of this night sky, large comets bore down, each striking Stardust one after the other - Draco Meteor. The final comet impacted with a massive explosion, sending shockwaves in every direction and causing Reimu to struggle to stay on her feet, her miko outfit whipping around violently. When she managed to look back, she saw Stardust, lying on its side. For the first time, something had knocked it out.

Tapu Mo'o floated down in front of its fallen opponent. It stared at Stardust icily, confident that if it managed to defeat this god, then the rest of Reimu's team would fall shortly… before it suddenly felt two claws poke either side of its neck.

Tapu Mo'o instantly froze up petrified, and fell down onto the ground. Sasha, standing behind it, chuckled to himself about how such a mighty being could be caught off-guard long enough to be hit by a pressure point attack delivered by a wrestler, of all things. It was little surprise to Reimu, however, who was leveraging an aspect about dragons which Yukari had taught her, just like all of her ancestors, in the event that she had to fight one: although dragons were gods, they never truly escaped their mortal ancestor's predatory instincts, namely their tendency to aggressively pursue a target until that target was dead. While it did mean that anyone targeted by an almighty dragon was in all likelihood screwed beyond belief, it also distracted them from outside forces laying in wait to snipe them. This was why the Great Dragon was defeated by Starlight, who it could probably have beaten in a straight fight, since it was preoccupied with Ultra Reimu at the time. Similarly, Reimu and her friends used the same tactic to beat it at the Shrine. Now, when Stardust was clearly about to be knocked out, Reimu used the opportunity to send out Sasha and have him wait until the time was right to strike, using her Aura-sensing powers to search for gaps in Tapu Mo'o's awareness to do so.

With his opponent now petrified and unable to do anything, Sasha saw it fit to pick it up, toss it in the air, then perform a mighty punt to send it rocketing up. Reimu quickly switched him out for Wakasagehime, who timed an Ice Beam so that it hit Tapu Mo'o smack in the face. The Guardian was sent rocketing backward, landing perfectly atop the central pedestal and frozen in place.

A few moments passed, in which Reimu waited in anticipation for Tapu Mo'o to do something, the other four Tapu staring at it the whole time. Eventually, cracks formed in the ice, before ice shards flew in all directions as Tapu Mo'o collapsed on its pedestal, clearly showing that it had been knocked out, the Ice attack just a touch more powerful than the part-Dragon Pokemon was able to withstand. With the encouragement and support of its comrades, however, it managed to get itself back up, crossed its arms, and nodded, acknowledging Reimu's superior talent. Twice now had she managed to best it in combat, which no other human before had done. The combined talents of both her Hakurei and Alolan royal lineage as well as her own steadfast determination in treating all opponents more or less the same regardless of their capability and threat allowed her to overcome it as easily as her previous opponents, from cannon fodder fairies to rogue celestials to Lunarians. To the other four Guardians, she proved herself just as capable as they remembered the Prince to be, perhaps even moreso. She managed to complete what the Prince started and defeat Necrozma, bringing peace and closure not just for Alola, but for Yukari, Gensokyo, and really, both worlds as a whole, and a world beyond. Completing her Island Challenge and beating the Elite Four as well as all five of them only reaffirmed her ability and achievements, if ever there was a doubt.

Each of the five Tapu floated down and presented her with parting gifts. Tapu Fini offered a fist-sized, perfectly polished pearl, which wafted healing mist when submerged in water. Tapu Bulu's gift was a seed; given proper care and good soil, it would grow into a mighty tree that bore the rarest of berries. Tapu Lele, shy as it was, gave a shimmering, pink scale, capable of shedding dust that acted as a potent energy and healing powder.

Tapu Koko, the first Pokemon she ever met, who saved her life back at Mahalo trail a month and a half ago, took a moment to nod in congratulation of her growth, and its appreciation that the Prince was back, if in a different form. Its gift was the unique Z-Crystal of the Tapu, the Tapunium-Z. It could only be used with them, subtly daring Reimu to try and catch them someday, just as the Prince had.

The last one to offer a gift was Tapu Mo'o. The grand barrier dragon who helped create the Hakurei Border, it felt only the finest gift was worthy of being offered to the barrier's finest keeper. Said gift was a Dragon Stone, the egg from which all dragons on Earth were born from. Touching the stone, Reimu could get a feel for the kind of dragon that would one day emerge from the stone; its Aura was icy cold, and somehow empty and incomplete. Hopefully, the dragon was not a needlessly destructive one.

Reimu looked up, and bowed.

"Thank you," she smiled. "I promise I'll continue to live up to your expectations." She understood the huge role she had just assumed, but was confident that she could take it on.

And with that, she turned around and walked out.

* * *

When she returned to the central area, all the lines flowed from the doors to the circle in the middle, which now shimmered with white lights and strobed with red, yellow, pink, purple and green, the five colors of Alola. Reimu was certain something would happen if she stepped onto it now. She made sure to heal up her team, using the last of her Ethers as she did so. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, knowing that the throne was still at stake, and that this show wasn't over yet.

Standing in the middle, she closed her eyes, and tilted her head upward. She let the lights around her intensify, and overtake her form.


	53. The Battle at the Summit!

On a frost-tinged early March morning in 1999, a miracle happened at the Hakurei Shrine. The Bunbunmaru headline that day told it all: "New Hakurei born at the Shrine!"

There wasn't a father. Or, well, there was, but no one was sure who. Most thought that it was a man whom Katsura had seen a few times the previous spring and summer, but he had succumbed to dysentery before anyone could ask. Either way, this child carried the Hakurei bloodline with her, so her birth was treated with the utmost respect.

The only people present at the birth were Yukari and her servants, a couple men from the village, a five-year old Akyuu with an adult helping her scribe, and Eiki Shiki, who had requested to be present. Eiki said she had personally authorized this incarnation of the soul that inhabited the newborn's body.

"This soul is in its fourth incarnation," the yama explained to Yukari. "It's proven especially troublesome for me, since I can't get it to pass on no matter what I do. I hoped having it inhabit the body of a Shrine Maiden would allow it to accomplish whatever unfinished business it has yet to finish."

Yukari looked over the child, and could tell she was brimming with power. "I've watched over many generations of Hakureis," she said, "no doubt this child has unusually strong potential." Katsura, for her part, was largely drowning out the chatter, focused solely on cradling and singing softly to her newborn baby. To any mother, their child was special, however weak or strong anyone else said they were.

One of the two men was a fortune-teller. His tools were Tarot cards, and his fortunes were famous for being infallible. He decided to look at the child's fortune, to see what kind of future she had in front of her. So, kneeling on the floor, he laid out his cards, and flipped them. The other man looked at him as he did this. In order, he flipped six cards: Fool, Magician, Death, Tower, Judgement, and World.

"What does this mean?" the other man asked. The Fortune Teller studied the cards for a bit, then came up with his answer.

"Hm. Hmm, I see," the Fortune Teller mused. "It seems this child will be the central figure of an unprecedented series of events," he explained. "The Fool represents herself, the hero at the start of a journey whose paths for growth can go in any direction. The Magician represents a lifelong friend and ally whom she will meet early in her life. Death represents her greatest foe, who seeks to enact great change to Gensokyo. Tower symbolizes the sudden change this foe will bring to the land, and the irreversible change to the status quo. Judgement represents their final battle, and how the fate of everything lies in her hands. World is her life after the battle and the realization of her goals." He looked up at Yukari. "There is no doubt this child will face great trials and should be trained vigorously."

Yukari nodded in affirmation. "Understood. I train all Hakureis to be strong fighters, and this one will be no exception."

The Fortune Teller was about to put away his cards when he noticed another reading, involving three cards: Devil, Hunger, and Death. It was regarding his relation to this child. He interpreted it as a warning that he would meet his end at her hands should he ever give into temptation. He hoped that wouldn't happen, but things had not been going so well with his wife as of late, leaving him vulnerable to making poor romantic decisions.

Yukari turned back to Katsura, still cradling the baby. She asked her, "Now then, what shall this child be named?"

Katsura had thought about possible names for some time, but a glance outside was enough to convince her of what her daughter's name would be. Outside, the sun was shining brightly in the cerulean sky, the rays glistening on the frost-speckled branches, on which small droplets of water formed as the frost melted.

She looked down at the baby, fast asleep in her arms.

"...Reimu. Reimu Hakuri," she smiled.

Off in the distance, a shadowy figure watched the event with arms outstretched.

"...that child is him," she muttered to herself.

* * *

On a bright spring day, a small girl in a homemade witch costume and carrying a tattered old broom bounded up the steps to the Hakurei Shrine. She had heard about this old shrine from the other kids at school, but wanted to see for herself what the place was like. Still fresh in her memory was the day when her and her father were pulled away from their home by an Ultra Wormhole; if it weren't for Kourin they probably would have been mauled by a rogue youkai. They never left the village since, but today she was feeling confident, wanting to get out and explore this strange place which was now their home. She fancied herself as a witch, ever since she cracked open a tome left behind by Alice one day at her father's store. In a short time, her sharp, curious mind was hooked, and she felt she could become a badass spellcaster able to fight for herself.

Running up the steps, she expected the place to be grand, surrounded by ancient statues of beasts and dragons, but the relatively modest, aging shrine she found fell far short of expectations.

"Wow, this place is really lame," she chided. She strutted up the path, hoping to actually enter the shrine itself and check it out, see if there was anything inside worth "borrowing" to study and take apart, as kids were want to do. In doing so, she walked straight past the wash basin.

"Excuse me," came a voice, "but you must wash yourself before approaching the shrine."

The girl spun around, and saw another girl around her age in a miko outfit, hands to her side and clearly annoyed.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm the keeper of this shrine, and my name is Reimu. How about you? You're not a troublemaker, are you?"

The girl scratched her head. "Ain't you a little young to be a keeper?"

"Don't talk to me with that Kansai phrasing," Reimu scolded. "I only asked for your name and purpose."

"Gosh, chill… the name's Marisa. Marisa Kirisame. I'm here to… check this place out, I guess?"

Reimu sighed. "You should know the proper procedure when visiting a shrine. First, you must wash yourself to remove impurities from your person. Then, it is customary to leave an offering for the shrine's god, then ring the bell and make a prayer. If that is not your intention, then I must ask you to leave. You are disrespecting the shrine's god just barging in here."

Marisa leaned to one side, and looked around. "Y'know, that's why you don't get any visitors," she said.

"How dare you!" Reimu shouted. "You're just going to keep disgracing the shrine?!"

"It's the truth, though," Marisa said. "See, this place has a bad rap with the kids at school. Everyone says you're like a hermit who doesn't know how to talk to people other than that one youkai sage, and that's why you don't get any visitors."

"I, er…" Reimu choked. As offended as she was right now, she knew in herself that Marisa had good points. She did come off as abrasive, but how could she not? She was thrust into this business far too young, and there was only so much right that an eight-year old who was still in training could do.

"You gotta make a friend or two outside of this old, dusty place!" Marisa smiled. "Ya visit the village much?"

"Well, sometimes, but…"

"Exactly! Why don'tcha come down sometime and find someone to talk to?" She pointed at Reimu. "Oh, but they gotta be your age, else people will think you're even weirder and can only talk to adults."

To be frank, Reimu really did want to make some friends, but her rigorous training regimen didn't leave a lot of time or energy for meeting other kids, not to mention her gruesome job meant that other kids would give her some _really _funny looks, whispering about her and her reputation. She didn't want to impress that upon this girl who didn't seem to know better, but…

"Hm?" Marisa wondered. "What's that brown stuff on that stick thing of yours?"

Reimu looked around, and realized Marisa was talking about the dried youkai blood on her gohei.

"Oh, uh, it's just some mud…" she said, nervously hiding the gohei behind her back.

"You hunt youkai, right?" Marisa asked candidly.

Welp, no getting around it now, Reimu thought. Now Marisa was going to avoid her, the same as all the other kids in town.

"That's right," Reimu said. "That's my family's job, after all."

Marisa was silent for a second, before asking, "howddya do it? How tough are they?"

"...huh?" Reimu wondered.

"Look, I just don't think it's fair that we're livin' under the thumb of all these man-eating freaks. We gotta stand up for ourselves. As you can see, I'm trainin' to be a magician. That way, I can just blast 'em all away!"

Reimu jumped back in shock. "Wait… are you saying you want to fight youkai? But… absolutely not! You're… you're not like me. You're just a regular human. I have the powers of the shrine backing me up. I train day in and day out, using seals and ofuda as well as hand-to-hand techniques. Hunting youkai is really scary business!"

"I know," Marisa replied. "...but wouldn't it be less scary with a friend?"

Reimu was visibly caught off-guard.

"You just go out there on your own and don't have anyone to help ya but yourself. What if you had someone else out there helpin' ya? I don't care how hard or scary fightin' youkai is. I got all the time in the world in my dad's attic to study attack spells and practice 'em."

Reimu crossed her arms. "Well, you just say you're a magician, but can you actually prove it? I'm not sure I fully believe you just because you're in some witch costume you threw together out of old rags."

"You betcha!" Marisa pulled out a small, handcrafted device from her bag. "This is an artifact that Kourin gave me. It's got lots of power in it!" Concentrating, she held out the furnace, which soon produced a fireball that shot out toward a stump behind the shrine. Then all of a sudden, a large, forceful torrent of water shot out right after the fireball, extinguishing it in midair and hitting the stump with enough force to tear it out of the ground.

Reimu's eyes widened, as she realized this girl was more capable than just a regular kid.

"Darn it!" Marisa exclaimed. "It happened again. When I'm trying out new attacks, sometimes water spells come out when I don't want them to. Don't really know why that is, but-"

"I've changed my mind," Reimu said.

"Eh?" Marisa asked.

"You seem like you could be useful," Reimu told her. "Yukari told me it takes a while for people to become magicians, but I guess when you say you're dedicated, you really mean it."

"That's what I've been tellin' ya!" Marisa bellowed.

Reimu crossed her arms again. "However… hunting youkai is a dangerous job. Are you… are you really sure you want to do it? You could get killed…"

"I've already made up my mind," Marisa beamed. "Bein' cooped up in the village my whole life ain't healthy. What am I gonna do when I grow up, sell eel? I want to actually make a difference and see this valley inside and out!"

...well, she certainly wasn't one to try and argue with, Reimu shrugged. As ignorant and brazen as she seemed, she was really dedicated and had tons of resolve. Someone like that didn't come along often. If nothing else, Reimu felt duty-bound to guide her and keep her from getting herself killed. If she trained more and honed her powers, then…

"...I see," she smiled.

"Hey, I got you to smile!" Marisa teased.

"EH?!" Reimu jumped back again, blushing. "Don't… idiot! Moron!"

"Sorry 'bout that," Marsia said, not really sorry. "Anyway, I gotta get back before dad wonders where I am. But Imma crash here again in a couple days to check on 'ya. Got that?"

"Um… sure," Reimu replied.

"Good! See ya then!" And with that, Marisa took off down the stairs.

Reimu stood there for a few minutes, the wind blowing her dress lightly. She thought about what had just occurred and what it meant.

She had made a deal with Marisa. She had made an ally. She had made… a friend. And somehow, she knew this friend would be a big part of her future.

She couldn't help but feel happy about that.

* * *

The lights around Reimu died down after several moments. Opening her eyes, she looked around, and found herself in a totally new area: a dome-shaped, glass ceilinged great hall. She stood atop a cylindrical platform rising above a deep pit, but an even larger platform towered in front of her.

Reimu took a step forward, and was caught off-guard when a metal stair step suddenly warped in front of her. Cautiously, she put her foot on it, and another stair step warped in. After some hesitation, she started walking forward, each step causing another step to appear. Strutting up the steps, she felt as though she was walking on air… not a totally alien sensation given that she had flown before, but she still felt like a queen or a goddess in the moment, twirling her gohei around as she rose to the challenge ahead of her, leaving a fully-formed staircase in her wake.

At the top of the steps was yet another arena, bearing an azure glow. She looked ahead at the object sitting on the other side: a glass throne, with an ornate Sunne and Moone design behind it. This was it, she thought. That throne was the culmination of her journey. Everything, from that first meeting with Lillie at Mahalo Trail to the struggle against Starlight, was leading up to here. If Cynthia was right, claiming it in her name was her ultimate goal in life. Her ultimate goal from a previous life left unfulfilled.

It seemed she was the first person to arrive here, as she looked around and saw no one else. Now her task was to defend it from other challengers. She knew the stakes were high: one loss and the throne was out of her grasp forever.

Reimu took a moment to appreciate her surroundings. Right now, she stood atop Alola's highest point, and the entire rest of the island chain could be seen from here, even the distant Poni Island. The entirety of Ula'Ula Island sprawled out beneath her feet, Youkai Mountain was visible in the distance piercing the sky like a daunting, shadowed spire, the top of the Wela Volcano glowed with manga, and Hau'oli City's lights glowed in all directions, with the vast, azure sea enveloping it all and the islands cast against the dull glow of the setting sun off to the west. It was already twilight, and the eastern horizon was dark. Lights in the room lit up, refracting off the terrarium-like glass dome.

Reimu approached the throne, stopping a step or two before it. Despite all the challenges she had overcome, she still felt getting to the throne was a little too easy, like there should be one last struggle before it was truly hers. Even so, she was still grateful to have made it this far. Two months ago, there was no way of knowing she would even be here today. The possibility just didn't exist. Now, the reality was that she had overcome the foe she was long fated to defeat, and finishing a mission she didn't even know she had ever started.

For sure, it was a drastic change. Gone was her old life keeping the border, the balance between human and youkai, and resolving incidents. Here was her forthcoming life in the Pokemon World, and the Champion of Alola.

She contemplated these thoughts for a moment, before realizing that life was all about change. Not only that, but in rising to this challenge she went from being "just another Hakurei Shrine Maiden" to being the greatest one, and the one that completed the family's mission once and for all. And she still had her entire adult life ahead of her. Time to explore the world further, time to settle down and start a family, time to guide generations of trainers…

She shook her head. She could contemplate those thoughts later. Right now, she had a throne to claim. So she reached out and touched it…

"Reimu!"

Reimu jolted around, and saw Lillie running up the staircase, dressed in the white shirt and blue-trim skirt she had bought previously, before being made to wear those ridiculous costumes, and her hair tied in a ponytail. She stopped just a few steps after the staircase, looking at Reimu.

"Lillie… you took on the Elite Four too?"

"Uh-huh!" Lillie nodded. "I was just behind you." She looked around, taking in the sights from the summit. "I never thought I would actually come all the way here…"

Reimu smiled. "We're trainers, Lillie. You're a trainer. This is where all trainers come to prove themselves."

"A trainer…" Lillie trailed off. She turned to Reimu again. "You know, it feels so strange."

"What does?" Reimu asked, tilting her head.

"This whole incident," Lillie said. "Before, I was running away from mother, and I never thought I would ever be a trainer. But then, you came out of the sky, almost like an angel."

"An… angel?" Reimu blushed.

"Oh, I don't mean it like that!" Lillie laughed. "I mean like an actual angel coming down to earth to protect and guide me. And not only that, but your entire home and all your friends came too, and we went and fought Necrozma… it's been a really hectic summer."

"You got that right," Reimu said. The two girls chuckled. Lillie seemed happy.

She took a deep breath through her nose, and sighed. "It's thanks to you that I was able to become strong. Following you and watching you, I realized I had a lot of potential as a trainer, and as a person. You helped me move on from just being my mother's dress-up doll to an independent woman and a very capable trainer with strong Pokemon."

"Well, I have experience training Kirisames," Reimu said. "If it weren't for me, your sister would probably be a giant, smoking crater by now."

Lillie giggled. "She really is special. The way she sets herself to whatever she decides to do, no matter what… I didn't realize how short she was before, but now that she's started training, she's the same height as Gladion. I never thought people could just _will _themselves to be taller."

"Yeah, that's the thing about younger siblings," Reimu admitted, "somehow they end up bigger and stronger than their sisters. You're a big girl tool, Lillie. You're a little taller than me, so I'm sure you'll outgrow both of them in no time."

Lillie laughed. "Maybe. Mother used to say I was growing like a weed." She adjusted her stance. "Marisa told me something interesting after we battled downstairs. She told me that I reminded her of herself when she was younger, and how she thought it was funny her younger sister would cling on to you the same way she did. She told me how both of us came to you because of problems in our lives, both her getting sent to Gensokyo and me and Gladion's suffering when our mother lost her sanity."

"I've always likened our relationship to that of Xuanzang and Sun Wukong," Reimu told her. "Wukong invaded heaven but was cast down and imprisoned under the Five-Finger Mountain for five-hundred years before Xuanzang freed him, and so Wukong followed him faithfully west to India to obtain the Hindu Scriptures. In a sense, I freed both of you from your metaphorical prisons, and you both have followed me faithfully and helped me in my quests to solve incidents."

"That's very poetic," Lillie smiled, "but I don't think it was just you leading me. After all, you dropped into this world without knowing anything about it, but I was there to help you out. Furthermore, the Prince was cast out of this world 500 years ago, and you are his reincarnation, back after 500 years. So I guess we both led each other."

...well, golly, Lillie was right. If it wasn't for her, Reimu wouldn't have known what to do here but run around flailing her arms like a madwoman, but now she was a fully adjusted member of this society and then some.

And it wasn't the first time a Kirisame had changed her life. After all, Marisa coming to the shrine a decade ago was what prompted Reimu to come out of her shell and make friends and allies, and in the process discover her aptitude for doing so. Without her, she may not have been nearly as successful in solving incidents, most especially this one. So, really, without either of these sisters she wouldn't be where she was. Sure, Starlight's machinations meant that her being here was probably inevitable in hindsight, but perhaps that was another way in which it wanted to atone for what it did. Either way, she was grateful.

A light smile painted across her face. "..yeah." She looked around the arena once more. "It's so strange… I have my family's ancestral shrine maiden powers, duties and training, and I do a very good job, but… looking at this place, and how I largely managed to solve this incident without them, it's like this is what I was meant to do all along."

"I think that's just the Prince's soul talking," Lillie commented. "You never became king in that life, but now that you're home you began acting like he did and using skills and strategies that he had. And because of that, the throne is now yours." She stood on one foot, and beamed, "so, congratulations on becoming the Grand Kahuna!"

Reimu was touched. Lillie, this person she met on her first day here, coming here to personally congratulate her.

"...thanks," Reimu said.

Lillie, eyes closed, put her foot back down, looked down… and snickered.

"..._hmhmhm*_… if only it were that easy."

Reimu tilted her head. "Hm?"

Lillie opened her eyes again, in a decidedly tsurime fashion that showed off the piercing emerald glint of her eyes, and she grinned wickedly.

"Listen close, Reimu. The sun is going down. Whoever has the throne at midnight becomes the Grand Kahuna forever. They shut the doors for the night behind me, so no more challengers. That means only one of us will claim that throne for ourselves."

Reimu immediately assumed a battling stance. "Aha… I see. So, you're the last obstacle between me and my 'unfinished business.' And you're a fight I really can't afford to lose." Reimu thought about Lillie's growth, the strength of her Pokemon, and the close bond that they and their trainer shared, most especially Adele, who was still a fearsome foe even if the events at Ultra Gensokyo took her power back a notch. Not only that, but a graceful Alolan Ninetales, a wily Gengar, a steadfast Silvally, a ravenous Salamence, and most of all the imposing and order-keeping Zygarde. All of them were now her Pokemon's opponents.

There weren't really any people Reimu considered to be her equal - even Yukari, powerful though she was, could be brought into line and bent under her foot if she felt the need. Sunshine was practically a god, and therefore was judged on a completely different scale from herself. Marisa was formidable, persistent and scarily intelligent, but lacked patience and strategy that could allow her to outflank her foes consistently. Sanae was a fellow shrine maiden who often prided herself as a rival, but she had less experience than Reimu due to having two gods around whom she could lean on, something Reimu lacked. But here was someone whom she had personally instructed and encouraged, who combined compassion, patience, intelligence and analysis, who had an amazing resolve that allowed her to stay strong through years of a mentally ill mother, and the golden touch of determination, guts and just a little bit of recklessness which ran in her family, freed from her previous shackles of being her mother's plaything and forced to be a "good girl" to reveal her true self, whom Reimu taught how to fight using the same tactics she herself used, and who also actively sought to improve her abilities. Across the islands, the two fought side-by-side, tearing through swaths of trainers, both amateurs and professionals alike, crossing off Trial Captains and Kahunas as though a preschooler could do it. Not only that, but she was alongside her, as well as the others, to face down a monster that would have any normal person running away with their tail between their legs, and _won _. Truly, she was someone who was able to do just about whatever she set her mind to. Even without her Pokemon, Reimu had witnessed her punching a sizable dent into a solid steel door at one point. Now, Lillie was here, ready to show Reimu her power.

In one swift, elegant motion, Lillie spun around, sending out Snowy's Pokeball, the ice-cold fox landing gracefully on all fours and staring at Reimu with icy intimidation. Reimu felt the only appropriate answer for this was the fiery wrestler cat who had been at her side since day one. Sending out Sasha, he landed on the ground punching it with one fist, before beating his chest and roaring at the sky, ready to throw down.

"I want to show you what me and my friends are made of!" Lillie proclaimed. "I want to show you… what I'M made of!"

Reimu chuckled. "And I want to show you the power and resolve of a Hakurei Shrine maiden, and a _Prince!" _Sasha was quick to pounce toward Snowy, claws bared, belt flaring and razor-sharp teeth glistening. The icy fox quickly pranced to one side, dancing around and casting a white mist while phasing in and out like a phantom. After a few moments of silence, a ring of flames erupted from the center, dispelling the mist and revealing Sasha flexing his glorious pecs. He then jumped high in the air, bearing down on Snowy intent on landing a fist drop. Snowy dodged, but the force of the impact with the floor sent out Earthquake waves in all directions, burying the fox into the ground.

"Now's your chance!" Reimu called out. "Finish it off with style!" Sasha grinned, flexing and posing while cameras flashed and a crowd cheered (despite neither of those actually being there) before running back, psyching himself, then charging forward, doing a triple front-flip, then a cartwheel before jumping up into the air, twirling around while again the nonexistent cameras flash. Snowy attempted to shoot him out of the air with Moonblast, but Sasha expertly air-dodged in slow-motion just as the pinkish-white mass of light grazed by. Within milliseconds, he had positioned himself to land a heel kick right on Snowy's forehead, knocking the icy fox out and forcing Lillie to recall. Sasha landed right in front of his master, looking up and glaring right at the opposing trainer before him.

"Geh," Lillie grunted. "Just as I would expect!"

"And that's the power of training and teamwork," Reimu boasted. "Other than getting rid of the mist, we didn't even need Fire attacks to win." She adjusted her stance. "Recently, I did a tag-team battle at the Battle Royal dome, with Sasha and Anubis versus Suika's Machamp and Conkeldurr, and they cleaned house; even Rawk Hawk approved, saying it was the fiercest battle he'd ever seen."

Lillie looked down and smiled lightly. "Don't get cocky. This battle's just getting started. You haven't even scratched the surface of my training!" The next Pokemon she sent out was predictable: with grace and poise, a veil of bubbly mist and a song like a siren's call, Adele spread out her flippers as she landed and announced the start of her greatest performance, MLG Sunglasses and all.

It was enough to entrance her partner Sasha, who was faithful to her and would do anything to protect her; certainly he never wanted to harm her. And Adele knew it, lowering the glasses and winking at him to come over. So he did…

...only to get blasted back by Hydro Pump, leaving him a damp, furry mess on the floor and his fiery belt extinguished.

Reimu shook her head as she recalled him. "You were always a bit of an M for her, aren't you?" She chastised. She turned around back to Lillie. "So, if that's how it's gonna be, I guess I'll have to play dirty." Odin was the obvious choice, given its potent electrical attacks, so she sicced him on the flippered demon before her. Adele had the advantage of Focus Blast, something other Primarina's didn't have… except it was only as powerful as a normal Focus Blast, meaning it couldn't hit the broad side of a barn half the time you used it, the ki blast being so slow and predictable that most Pokemon could sidestep it if their reflexes were good enough, making the element of surprise and/or boxing the opponent in necessary. This was what happened, where Odin dodged it, and while Adele charged up another one Odin unleashed a devastating Thunder attack, sending thousands of volts crackling through Adele's body, amplified by the water on the surface of her skin conducting it everywhere. When it was over, Adele was sprawled out across the floor, unable to fight and forcing a switch.

"That's two for one," Reimu said, "and I took down your nuker. What's your call?" She twirled her gohei around with one hand, the tassel at the end whipping through the air as she did.

Lillie caught her breath, and grinned. "Are you kidding? Things are only now getting heated up!" She drew her third Pokeball. "Good thing I came prepared for exactly this situation!" Curve-throwing the ball, out popped the Silvally belonging to her, Cerberus, its headcrest an earthy brown color, signalling Ground-typing.

Reimu rolled her eyes. "Aw crap. I was afraid you'd abuse _that _for all its worth," she grumbled, referring to her team's crippling weakness to Ground attacks.

"That's right," Lillie boasted, "and that's not all: I specifically trained it to counter your whole team. That means it can wipe the floor with all of your Pokemon, if it wants to!"

Reimu was frustrated, but strangely proud of Lillie at the same time, that she had become so observant and savvy in such a short time that she had a way to counter her entire team. It meant that Lillie was hell-bent on one-upping Reimu, the playbook that any good rival went by. But Reimu was determined to show Lillie that her many more years of training and experience would prevail.

Predictably, Odin could accomplish little against Cerberus, who weakened and burned it with Flamethrower before charging up and letting loose with a Ground-infused Multi-Attack, which felled Odin in one fell swoop. Recalling it, Reimu considered her next action, and decided that her best option was to send her one Ground-immune Pokemon against it.

"Sanae, you're up!" As Sanae emerged from her ball and swooped up, Reimu directed her to fly out of Cerberus's attack range and bombard it with Ice Beams. Reimu was curious if Cerberus had a counter for Sanae, as Lillie claimed, but this was soon answered when Cerberus revealed that it knew Ice Beam as well, which it shot at Sanae from ground level, forcing her to dodge and making it harder to land hits.

Reimu thought fast about what to do, then came up with an idea. Recalling how she had used Psychic against Cynthia's Arcovenant, Reimu figured out a way she could use missed shots to her advantage. After one such shot from Cerberus left a bunch of ice crystals on the glass wall, she ordered Sanae to use Psychic on the crystals, ripping them off the wall and letting them hover in the air for a second before sending them down at the floor, encircling Cerberus and leaving it surrounded. Cerberus then used Flamethrower to melt a way out, giving Sanae the chance to catch it and the remaining ice in a vicious Hurricane, tossing them around in a chaotic aerial blender in which Cerberus was ravaged by the ice, before slamming back into the ground, knocked out cold.

"Damn it!" Lillie exclaimed. "I thought I had the perfect counter for you!"

Reimu waved her finger. "Coming up with strategies on the fly is one part of being a successful trainer, and an incident-resolver too. I'm sure your sister has told you stories about how she basically made up her entire strategy as she went along through whatever incident needed resolving that day. I've taken a few cues from her, and it works more than you'd think."

Lillie realized her opponent was one used to thinking fast and using out-of-the-box tactics on the spot in order to win, making her actions unpredictable and countering any strategy which seemed unbreakable on paper but underpowered in practice. Thinking about it, she figured the best way to counter it was to try and beat Reimu at her own game. And there was only one Pokemon in her party up to the job.

Lillie tossed out another ball, which released a shadowy blob which rushed across the floor, up the glass wall and whizzing around erratically before shooting out and becoming the gas-cloud ghost Hecatia, grinning and whipping her tongue everywhere as she cackled madly while zipping out like a deranged Ghostbusters ghost, leaving a trail of poison gas everywhere that, slowly but surely, incapacitated Sanae, leaving her open to one of the first moves Lillie ever taught the Gengar, Thunderbolt. One shot was enough to cause Sanae to fall out of the air, covered in sparks and twitching. Hecatia landed on the ground in front of her trainer, swaying about and smiling evilly at Reimu as she recalled her Pokemon.

The trainers were now down to three each, and up to this point the fight had been eye-for-an-eye, a testament to the seemingly equal skill of the two rival trainers. Certainly, Lillie had learned quite a bit under the shrine maiden's tutelage, which was now working against Reimu's favor. That Gengar was a tricky target; perhaps the only way to beat it was sheer, brute force.

Brute force happened to be what Waki-Saki specialized in, and as the red Gyarados emerged from her ball she bellowed a quaking roar that was felt in the bones of the trainers. She glared at the poison ghost before her, intent on wiping that stupid smile off her face.

Hecatia, of course, tried to use the same strategy that worked for her before, flying all over the place and leaving poison gas everywhere. Wakasagehime didn't care. In fact, she was immune to the poison simply out of the sheer power of not giving a dingo's kidney about it. So she whipped up a mighty Hurricane using her fin, trapping the ghost and gas within a swirling vortex which was easier to target. Wakasagi then used a three-hit combo: first, Hydro Pump to add water to the wind funnel. Then, Ice Beam to freeze it into a huge spire, with Hecatia's face visible in the middle of it. Finally, she reared back, focused, and unleashed her strongest attack: a starry sky materialized in the glass ceiling, from which comets came barreling down on the ice spire, shattering it and reducing it to glassy dust before melting away. The final comet of the Draco Meteor attack, the largest, hit Hecatia directly, landing the finishing blow and leaving her lying on the ground. Waki-saki was a bit drained after the attack, but Reimu came prepared with a fat, jerkied fish which she tossed up to the beast's mouth. Gulping it down gave Waki-saki just the perk she needed to bellow again and recoup her fighting spirit.

Reimu looked up at her magnificent sea dragon and smiled. "You know, if Wakasagihime were male, I probably would have named her Kamu Susano-o, the Japanese god of sea and storms. She carries the power of a mighty typhoon within her. Oh, and her namesake thinks I raised her quite well, too." She looked at Lillie, crossing her arms. "It's like you're fighting a storm, a battle no human can hope to win."

If Lillie was exasperated, she wasn't showing it, instead glaring defiantly and panting while baring her fangs. She still had two tricks up her sleeve, both of which were tricks she felt the maiden from the so-called "Isle of Dragons" would appreciate.

Lillie grinned. "Y'know," she said in the rough phrasing, "dragons are really important in both our cultures. Some of the strongest Pokemon are Dragon-type." She rolled up her sleeves. "And it just so happens my remaining Pokemon are Dragons." She took out another ball, out of which emerged the red-winged, ravenous dragon known as Salamence, the baby dragon Reimu saved from jumping off a cliff and who had evolved just to save its master. Looking at the sleek, intimidating beast, it was hard to believe it evolved from such a goofy, baby dragon.

"It took me a while to come up with a fitting nickname for him," Lillie stated, "but I read through that library and found some really interesting tales. There was one that caught my eye, of a dragon who killed his father to hoard the gold for himself, who could only be stuck down by a mighty knight."

She peered at the throne. "There's gold in this room ripe for the taking."

She spun her Z-Ring around to reveal a Keystone affixed to it. At the same time, she flipped her ponytail, briefly flashing the Salamencite hidden by her hair and tied to the hairband. "You're going to regret rushing to catch Fafnir before he fell into the ocean!" Her emerald eyes flashed menacingly and she smiled wickedly as she activated the Keystone, sending energy flowing from her into Fafnir, encasing the dragon in a rainbow crystal. It then shattered, and out emerged a plane-like armored jet dragon with one large, crescent wing catching air and allowing him to slice through the air at mach speeds, his will and Lillie's one and the same, with Lillie in a deep meditation.

Reimu gritted her teeth. Where did Lillie learn to perform Mega Evolution?! And Mega Salamence was a fearsome sight to behold, too, zipping around like that and most likely able to hit like a truck, and with Lillie's will at the controls there was no telling what it was capable of.

"Crap… didn't realize you were packing this sort of surprise!" She turned to Wakasagehime. "Waki… you have to win this one!" Waki-Saki affirmed, and used Ice Beam at her trainer's order, hoping that Fafnir's 4x Ice weakness could be used to end the fight quickly. But, she had no such luck: the dragon was just too fast for the icy blasts to hit, dancing through the air and rolling, tumbling and corkscrewing about in an impressive display of aerial maneuverability. Once he was done showing off, he rushed down Waki-Sake with one claw covered in light extended, sideswiping her with a powerful Dragon Claw, strong enough to cause the mighty Gyarados to stagger and cry out, allowing Fafnir to finish her off with a Hyper Voice with the power of the winds imbued within it. The storm had fallen to the legend.

With all but two of her Pokemon knocked out, Reimu understood what had to be done: to beat a Mega Evolution, she had to whip out her own. Sure, Anubis wasn't named Siegfried, but with his Steel-typing and warrior-like mannerisms and fighting style, he was more than a workable stand-in. Anubis had barely touched the floor by the time she touched her Keystone, the edges of the aquamarine pendant glowing as the Lucarionite within shone, reacting with the keystone as well as her and Anubis's bond. Aura and energy engulfed them both, encasing Anubis in a rainbow crystal before bursting open, with Anubis, as Mega Lucario, howling at the sky and rearing for battle, his thoughts and those of his trainer becoming one.

The game plan was obvious: try and land Ice Punch. Reimu figured one should be enough to knock Fafnir out. The problem was actually landing that hit, given how fast the dragon was. So, Anubis channelled enough Aura to levitate and take to the air, challenging Fafnir in his element.

Reimu figured Fafnir had some way to deal with Steel-types, which revealed itself when Fafnir charged up and fired a large fireball from his mouth, which Anubis grazed. The fireball hit the opposing glass wall, bursting out into the 大 kanji - the signature mark of Fire Blast.

Anubis and Reimu felt now was the time to quit dodging and act. Lillie knew Anubis had Ice Punch and would try to use it if he managed to get in close where Fafnir's attacks were less effective (she had, on an Ace Trainer's advice, tried to steer him towards Special attacks), so Fafnir kept his distance and kept attacking with Hyper Voice and Fire Blast, while Anubis fired back with Flash Cannon and Aura Sphere. Fafnir proved surprisingly tough despite his seemingly light and fragile exterior; at this rate he would take a long time to wear down, Reimu realized. She knew now was the time to fight dirty. Fafnir's biggest boon was his crescent wing which enabled his amazing flight; she and Anubis concentrated their attacks on the wing, hoping that injuring the large and relatively unarmored target would take him down a notch.

As they did this, the two continued fighting. Both fighters had immense fighting spirit, but Anubis and Reimu both had the advantage of channeling the revitalizing power of Aura, something which Lillie lacked, and after enough time both trainer and Pokemon began to strain themselves, their fatigue manifesting as Fafnir's movement slowing down (also a result of his wings getting battered) and his attacks becoming less accurate. Eventually, Lillie lost focus, dropping her concentration and collapsing to the ground, which caused the Mega Evolution to dissipate in a flash. Now back to normal, Fafnir was forced to rest his wings before getting back into the fight, but all this did was allow Anubis to zoom right up to him and land the Ice Punch right to the chin that was needed to knock the dragon out at last.

Anubis began meditating, allowing Reimu to come back to reality for long enough to address Lillie, who was winded and down on the ground.

"I'm honestly impressed," Reimu said, "that you unlocked the bond between you and Fafnir, and the secrets of Mega Evolution, when I wasn't looking." She conjured a blue flame in her hand. "However, I have a power which allows us to push the limits of our potential further than most people. And, your bond and technique isn't refined enough yet. A Mega Evolution shouldn't end before being knocked out. And now look at you. Are you done fighting? Would you like to give up?"

_Like Hell I'll give up, _Lillie thought. She reached into her bag and pulled out a tube resembling a Pixie Stick, labeled "Marisa's Mystic Magic Mix!" which claimed to be made with "Real Forest of Magic Mushrooms!" She shoved the paper tube into her mouth and let the shady powder pour down her throat. Moments later, energy coursed through her body like millions of amps of electricity, her mental focus heightened, stars lit up in her eyes and she shot right up, ready to get back into the fight.

Lillie looked at Reimu and Anubis while smiling like an idiot. "You think I'm gonna give up just because of a threat?! Screw that! You ain't gonna win, 'cause I'm wearing my victory panties today!"

Oh no.

Reimu facepalmed. It seemed no amount of Aura could fix what she was about to face down: Lillie hopped up on Marisa's shady drugs, which were enough to turn any normal person into a completely batshit insane, common-sense free Gensokyan.

Lillie had only one Pokemon left, but it was by far her most powerful: the towering, green-and-black serpentine keeper of order, known as Zygarde. Unlike her other Pokemon, Lillie felt that Zygarde needed no nickname: Zygarde just _was. _

Reimu was still confident she had the advantage, given Stardust was on her backboard and Anubis was still active. So she refocused into her Pokemon, jumping back into battle against Zygarde. Like Salamence, Zygarde was very vulnerable to Ice attacks, so Reimu hoped the same strategy as before would help clinch the fight. But Zygarde was a very different foe: right before Anubis made contact, it split into five copies of its dog form, intent on ganging up on him.

Reimu knew she had to think fast. This was very similar to situations in the past where packs of roving youkai would try the same tactic on her, thinking strength in numbers would assure victory against what they saw as a vicious murderer. The best way to deal with such groups was to isolate them and pick them off one by one, which was what she chose to do here, rising up into the air and prompting the hounds to chase her.

Reimu soon realized one key difference between those youkai and Zygarde: the youkai in packs thought for themselves and ultimately had no allegiance except to themselves, but these creatures were technically one Pokemon, thought as one, and were scarily well-coordinated. Splitting them up would prove a far tougher task which required different tactics than simply baiting one away from the main pack. So Anubis shot Aura Spheres down - not necessarily to deal damage, but to try and scatter them long enough, for however few seconds, to pick one of them off with an Ice Punch. After a couple attempts, one of the hounds was knocked away far from the rest. Anubis wasted no time closing in and slugging it with an icy punch, knocking it out and causing it to shatter into many cells which retreated into Lillie's Zygarde Cube. Anubis then retreated out of range of the Land's Wrath attack which one of the others threw his way.

This one act put Anubis in a much better position - leaving the Garde-Dogs without the ability to reform into their stronger combined form. Individually, they were all much weaker than the serpentine form, their numbers being the only thing giving them strength. One super effective Ice Punch was all that was needed to take them out, and each one that was knocked out made the fight that much easier for Reimu and Anubis. One by one, they isolated and knocked out the dogs, until only a single one was left standing. _This'll be a cinch, _was what Reimu thought. Just a couple more attacks and the fight was hers. But before she could close the distance, Lillie pointed and shouted, "this is bad! Zygarde! Gather yer whole power and smack these losers to kingdom come!"

Zygarde did as commanded, and in an instant it howled, sending out a wave of hexagonal cells which knocked Anubis back. Zygarde cells poured out of the Zygarde cube, while cells from elsewhere in the world rushed onto this one spot, absorbing themselves into Zygarde and causing it to transform and grow in size, until it grew into its towering, mecha-like Complete Forme.

Now Reimu understood she was in for it. She and Anubis mounted one last, desperate offense, but Zygarde just reared back with one arm and punched the ground, sending out a wave of arrows which ravaged Anubis and pinned him to the ground. Then, Zygarde jumped up, charged up energy within its right hand, then fired a beam, tracing the letter "Z" around Anubis before the pattern exploded. The force of the blast cut the link between trainer and Pokemon, which meant only one thing: Anubis had been defeated.

Drained and out of breath, Reimu collapsed onto the ground as she recalled her Pokemon. On the other side, Lillie taunted, "ya can't match the power of the Keeper of Order! That throne is mine now, I tell 'ya!"

Reimu panted, then looked up, and stared.

"...no. Not yet." She reached into her bag. "...it's come to this. I didn't want to use it, but…"

Reimu reached for one of the Pedialyte bottles, but after hesitating instead grabbed a wrapper which contained "Sanae's Magnificent Miracle Mochi!" Tearing the plastic apart, Reimu shoved the whole thing into her mouth and swallowed it. The effect was near-instantaneous, with miracle energy shooting through her nerves and muscles and her consciousness elevated to the level of gods, and like Lillie her eyes lit up with stars.

Reimu got up and grinned stupidly while cracking her neck from side to side. "It isn't done 'till it's done, absolutely!" In one swift movement, she cast out her last remaining Pokemon. "Now witness the power of this fully armed and operational Sun Lion!" And so Stardust emerged, crashing down with great force and bellowing a deafening roar. Now, it was truly a battle between legends, both human and Pokemon, here at the top of Alola's highest peak, under the light of the full moon.

Nominally, Stardust was at a disadvantage, given its Steel typing versus Zygarde's Ground. In practice, Zygarde was already injured due to waiting until it was pushed too far to transform, and Stardust's otherworldly powers in sync with a Shrine Maiden hopped up on drugs channeling spiritual power from all over the islands into its body allowed its aura of Ultra Radiation to flare, so powerful that even Zygarde could not dispel it even though it could neutralize both Xerneas and Yveltal's powers of life and death. But as far as Lillie was concerned, that just meant she had to pour just a tad more effort into the battle, and surely victory would be hers.

The obvious course of action was to fire even more arrows at Stardust to pin it down and finish it off, but for once the power of Ultra Radiation worked in Reimu's favor. All the arrows simply bounced off of Stardust's shining mane, which shone so brightly it could be seen for miles around. All over the island, people left their homes and looked toward the summit of Mt. Lanakila, its summit glowing like a beacon and leaving no doubt that history was being made, and the victor of this fight would lead Alola into the future. Back at the arena, Stardust charged up, then rose up, roared, and dashed straight toward Zygarde, crashing into the Guardian of Order with the force of a comet. The impact caused Zygarde to stagger, not quite knocked out, but clearly struggling against the severe injury.

Reimu held out her arms as Stardust came to her side. "It looks like the battle is mine, Lillie. Give up, you've lost. Look at Zygarde; it can't possibly keep up fighting. Just one more hit, and at long last, the throne will be -"

Suddenly a flurry of large donut-shaped laser bullets came her way.

Reimu had milliseconds to dodge them, jumping to the side as the first of the bullets grazed her way too closely for comfort. Catching her breath, she looked around wondering who was here that fired danmaku of all things.

That's when she caught sight of Lillie, still with starry eyes and a crazed yet determined look.

Most importantly, though, she was floating, and had a hexagram circle behind her.

"Oh yeah, I should probably mention that Marisa taught me some danmaku on the side. And you're my final exam!"

Reimu couldn't help but tilt her head as she was forced to comprehend the fact that Lillie, once a timid girl with no interest in fighting, here in this world that didn't have the Spell Card system, was now challenging her to danmaku. Normally, her logical mind would be asking why Lillie wished to gain that power when no one else except Gensokyo residents had it and what she hoped to accomplish with a danmaku duel after she had lost this Pokemon fight.

But, right now she had Sanae's crazy-awesome essence flowing through her body, and so didn't even question it. She just _rolled _with it.

"Well, if that's how it is," she shot back, whipping out a hidden deck of spell cards with a Sunne seal, as well as her gohei and sunne orbs, "then bring it!" Without hesitation, Reimu took to the air, and Lillie followed suit.

* * *

Up above the arena, the two combatants locked eyes. "You're way outta your depth, Lillie!" Reimu proclaimed. "I got the power of a god, and years of experience! Hell, I _made _the Spell Card rules, so I know the game better than you by default!"

But Lillie chuckled in defiance. "Heh, that's cute. Thing is, I got the power of a god too!" She raised her hand. "Get a load of _this! _" Down below, Zygarde split down into cells again, this time spiralling up toward Lillie and covering her body. Mats of hexagons formed around her dress, hardening into a mass resembling feudal Japanese armor, complete with twin scabbards holding a katana and dagger made of Zygarde cells, in a manner reminiscent of Minamoto no Yoshitsune. But the transformation wasn't done. Green cells then drooped down either side of her body, forming a tabard emblazoned with the Kirisame Family coat of arms and seal. Finally, the remaining cells massed on her back, spreading out into three pairs of broad wings, with white hexagons filling in for feathers. The finishing touch was a helmet around Lillie's head, a black visor obscuring her eyes and with white eyespots where they would be. Once the absorption was complete, Lillie resembled some sort of dark seraph-knight, with skeletal black wings and hexagonal feathers, drawing her swords and challenging Reimu to the grand slam of a lifetime.

"This is the bond I share with my Pokemon," she boasted, pointing her sword at Reimu. "The Order of the World shall strike you down!"

Reimu shook her head. "Not if I can help it!" She raised her gohei, channeling the power of Stardust below. Amazingly, it roared before breaking down into lights, rushing up into her and imbuing her with its power. In one swift motion, Reimu challenged Lillie, shimmering in light from the Sun Lion within her.

Both sides spat out their non-spells, quickly filling the room with thousands of multicolored bullets. Reimu decided to play conservatively; she wasn't sure what Lillie was capable of in this state, and didn't want to squander all of her effort at once only for them to be for naught. Lillie, by contrast, didn't waste time unveiling her first spell card: "Cell Sign: Cell Pulse." In an instant, green, black and white hexagonal cells radiated out in waves in all directions around her, in such a way that they rose and rippled from thin air, before dispersing back out of existence. Nothing Reimu had never seen; the attack used a similar trick that Koishi's "Youkai Polygraph" did, but in a more simplistic and predictable manner than the bullets simply appearing on you unless you outsmarted the polygraph. Didn't make it harmless, though, since the waves traveled fast and didn't dissipate until after travelling a far distance. So rather than run from it, she made the counter-intuitive decision to fly _into _it. She had to fly toward the wave at the same speed that it moved toward her, and at exactly the right moment when the cells started to appear but before they could deal damage. This was made more complex by the fact that Lillie also fired yellow bullets in an offset pattern to make this harder to do, but Reimu realized that if she added slight zigzags to her movement and jump to diagonal hexagons rather than plow straight through, she could dodge the yellow bullets without losing momentum. The tactic paid off, and within moments Lillie was in striking range. Firing a single bullet was all she needed to hit Lillie, causing the cells to disappear and an ethereal card to float up above her and then break.

Reimu understood then that Lillie had chosen to use the "capture" variant of the Spell Card Rules: unlike the simpler "three hits" ruleset which could be used for on-the-spot disputes or duels, this was a more competitive ruleset designed for longer, more skilled duels intended to showcase the fighter's mastery of spell cards. Essentially, after being hit one had five seconds to fire off a spell card or else they lost the fight instantly, although they could also elect to use a spell card at any time. However, should they be attacked during the spell card, either by being successfully countered or because a stray hit got them, or if it "timed out" (spell cards weren't allowed to last longer than 99 seconds) without successfully scoring a hit, that card was "captured" and could not be used again for the rest of the fight. Once that happened to all of your cards, you lost. That Lillie had chosen this variant meant she had prepared a number of cards in advance, while Reimu only had five. In addition to her signature "Fantasy Seal" attack, as well as the "Sun Eater" attack from before, she had developed three more with Stardust's help, although she was only just getting used to them: "Sol Sign 'Sol Cluster,'" "Nebula Sign 'Star Crush,'" and "Radiant Mane 'Shining Myriad Arrows.'" But so far, she had managed to counter a spell card without risking her own in the process, giving her some courage that this was winnable.

"Nice try, but you can't be the best!" Reimu boasted. "Is that really the best you can manage?"

Lillie shook her head. "Don't get your hopes up, Hakurei. That was only the first and weakest of ten."

...oh geez, Reimu thought. Ten, the maximum number of spell cards allowed, which only extremely powerful foes intent on not losing ever did. Reimu realized the stakes, knowing Lillie had two cards for each of hers, meaning absolutely no mistakes were allowed. For now, she just had to keep up her non-spells, hoping to score another hit. Thankfully, Lillie's non-spells were relatively simplistic, meaning most of her work went into perfecting her spell cards, whatever the other nine had in store.

Eventually, Reimu got another hit, prompting Lillie's next spell, "History of Kirisame." Lillie even took the time to explain its significance. "This is the story told to all Kirisames," she said. "Two sisters, torn apart by an attack on their father's castle. One disappeared, the other taken in and healed by the family's hospitality. She and her husband acted to turn the family from just another estate into the powerful force that it is today. Now, witness the story for yourself, and succumb to the overwhelming influence of my family!" With that, she produced two large, violet orbs, one for each of the sisters. Reimu decided to cut straight to the point and go for the kill, but was stopped when red lasers suddenly appeared, then burst into flames, with Reimu caught in the crossfire. The lasers cut the orbs, causing them both to crack.

This forced Reimu to have to use a spell card or else lose, so she chose Sun Eater. Like before, silver lasers appeared from behind her, and closed in on Lillie like a lion's teeth. The first of the two orbs faded after cracking, symbolizing Violet's unexplained disappearance. The other cracked further, before "opening" and beginning to spill yellow bullets, beginning with a pair and with others spreading off of them like tendrils, which moved to counter the silver lasers from Reimu's attack. Reimu realized what this was supposed to mean: this was their vast family tree, and the countless bullets each represented one generation of Kirisames. Reimu directed her lasers to nullify the tendrils, until only one bullet from the end of one of them remained. She decided to ignore it, having plenty of time to spare on her card, and go for the kill.

Then the bullet shot a rainbow laser at her, striking her directly.

"Hah, I captured a card!" Lillie chirped, as Sun Eater's card icon broke. Now Reimu was down to four cards, and Lillie was free to use "History of Kirisame" once again. "Looks like you can't stand up to the overwhelming power of the whole family spread across three millenia… or more specifically, one of its strongest members." A fitting tribute, Reimu conceded, and rather ironic that the one bullet she chose to ignore and got roasted by was the one representing Marisa.

Reimu shook it off and refocused, intent on getting past this card, which Lillie used again from the top; one was obligated to keep using a spell card once used, since stopping counted as losing it. However, despite just listing a card Reimu placed her bets on "Shining Myriad Arrows," which she pretty much designed to be her replacement for her "Fantasy Nature" attack: a nigh-unbeatable attack only winnable if someone timed it out. However, while that attack had her simply float away from reality while the opponent was left at the mercy of her bullets, this attack was just a straight-up nuke, effectively being her long-awaited answer to Master Spark. As Lillie sent out her two purple orbs again, lights shone from Reimu before tens of thousands of lighted arrows shot out in all directions one after another, piercing through the orbs and ravaging Lillie, causing the card to break.

Lillie was taken aback at the attack's sheer force and ruthlessness, how the arrows sliced through all in their path and moved too quickly to weave and graze through. Reimu continued her barrage, striking Lillie again and prompting her third card, "The Talons of Metamachia," after one of the principal legends of Novograd. This attack manifested as four gray lasers accompanied by many beams of light which closed in on their target, like the legend's talons clutching and crushing the monsters of the night, but the lights were nulled by Reimu, whose own light arrows continued to spread out. Some were blocked by the laser beams, but others again pierce Lillie, breaking the card.

It was then that Lillie decided it was time to take out the big guns to stop the barrage. That's where her swords came in: they made it possible to use "The Eight Amazing Steps of Yoshida Kirisame," a tribute to a Kantoese samurai whose life was saved by a member of the family, who took on their name and swore loyalty to them up to his dying days. She got the idea for this attack during a visit to Yomou and Yuyuko's apartment (them having been separated from Hakugyokorou) when Yomou mentioned practicing a technique called "Hassou Tobi." The first thing she did was disappear into a blur, taking her out of range of the light arrows, before eight lines began tracing like spokes on a wheel. As each line was traced, the one drawn before it turned into a laser. This telegraphing made them easy to dodge, especially since there was a wide gap between them, but they came wicked fast. Once the last line was traced, the main part of the attack came: the lasers exploded into thousands of bullets going every which-way, with Lillie in the center for only a few seconds while they scattered, before repeating the process. It reminded Reimu quite a bit of Yukari's "Border of Life" attack which used a similar bullet-flooding tactic, and Lillie only making herself vulnerable for a short time made the attack even harder to approach. One cycle lasted eight seconds, and Lillie would start carving the next lines before all the bullets had scattered; not only that, but she would vary where she sliced and diced, using the flood of bullets to try and corral Reimu someplace where the lasers would hit. So heavy was the bullet flood that they were able to intercept Reimu's light arrows, preventing them from striking Lillie. Reimu ultimately made it through about four or five cycles, before becoming so focused on trying to clear the mess of laser bullets that one of the slice lasers hit her directly, breaking her card.

Reimu recovered and caught her breath. "Dammit... that's a really strong card!"

"You really think so?" Lillie asked teasingly. "I tested it out against a bunch of other people first, and I kept refining it. I even managed to beat Yukari with it! And now I'm gonna beat you and take that throne for myself!"

Reimu shook her head. "Not gonna happen. _I'm_ the prince here, not you!"

"I dunno about that," Lillie responded. "I'm a Kirisame, after all. I'm practically royalty too! I could be an excellent Grand Kahuna!" Without hesitation, she bore down once more with Eight Amazing Steps. Reimu knew that, with just three cards left to Lillie's seven, absolutely no mistakes were allowed. So she spun her gohei around and focused so she could fire off needles... but instead of needles, a spell card appeared to activate, even though she had not intended to use one.

"Reimu." A familiar voice rang in her head.

Her eyes widened. "Wha... k-kami?!"

"It is time. You have shown your strength and resolve, and brought faith to the shrine like never before. And your reward now... is my newfound strength!"

Reimu nodded. "I understand. I've used your powers for so long and to put down so many incidents. Now, let's finish this together!" She aimed the gohei at Lillie, still in the middle of drawing the lines, and charged up a massive fireball as big as herself - Fusion Flare. Then, just as the wave of bullets was released, Reimu fired it off, the searing mass of heat blasting through each one until it made contact, exploding spectacularly and breaking the card.

A singed and surprised Lillie staggered, and was taken aback. "Wha- what the hell?!"

Reimu gathered the flames into her hand as one yin-yang and one sun orb spun around her. "Seems as though the kami's powers have returned to me. Now I have the power of two gods on my side." She smiled and sneered at Lillie. "I don't think your odds look so good now."

Lillie gritted her teeth. This wasn't good, she realized. Not only was one of her strongest attacks broken, but now she was facing down two gods for the price of one - three, if you counted Reimu herself practically being a living god. Lillie realized now more than ever she had to pull out all the stops if she still wanted to win in the face of this unexpected development.

Reimu knew Lillie's weakness was her underdeveloped non-spells, which were so easy to counter the Fairies of Light could probably do it, causing her to be reliant on her spell cards in order to win, risking a faster loss by doing so. Naturally, it didn't take long to force Lillie to use her fifth one, "Belzov's Army of Flies," (after the other primary legend of Novograd) which summoned a wave of fly danmaku from below; these were all scorched by the Fusion Flare attack, before Reimu redirected it toward Lillie herself to break the card.

Lillie was getting desperate, and resorted to her one time-out card, "Cell-Wave Barrier." Lillie surrounded herself in a sphere of hard cells which were immune to danmaku, while more of the phasing hexagonal scales alongside some other bullets were fired from it. The longer the attack went on, the denser the carpet of bullets became, and since it was a time-out there was no way to end it early, forcing opponents to navigate around the shots until it ended. So she focused in and meditated to while away the attack while Reimu scrambled to dodge it outside...

...that was the plan, but then she looked up and got a fist to the face, breaking the card.

"Tsk tsk," Reimu said. "I'm a barrier maiden, so of course I can shatter any barrier in my way!"

Now the fight on Lillie's end was really falling apart. She tried again to fight with non-spells, but was hit by needles after all of three seconds, prompting the use of "Life Sign 'Chromosomal Antlers,'" which manifested as a pair of colorful antlers made of danmaku which spilled whips of bullets onto the target. Reimu decided to counter this one by tapping into the other side of the Hakurei Kami's power. Surrounding herself in millions of volts of lightning, she careened right into her target - Fusion Bolt. The crackling electricity nullified all of the bullets in her path, before crashing right into Lillie to break the card. A similar scene played out as she was made to use her penultimate cards, "Death Sign 'Winds of Oblivion'" and "Cell Judgement 'Z-Order,'" both of which matched the spell cards of individuals like Suwako and Clownpiece, in terms of both complexity and sheer overwhelming force; Lillie was by no stretch of the imagination an ammeter, but she was up against a titan with insurmountable levels of power.

Exhausted and at wit's end, Lillie was left with no choice but to active her final spell card, one which she hesitated to use earlier in the duel but which she was now forced to unveil.

"Geh... that's it," she grunted. "Time for my ultimate trump card!"

"Try it," Reimu taunted. "With the Hakurei Kami and Stardust at my side, I can blow my way through anything you throw at me! Just accept defeat and concede the throne!"

Lillie chuckled.

"I though you taught me not to give up, though. Now I'm going to show you my determination and that of my family!" And with that, she conjured up her absolute strongest card: "High Judgement 'Kirisame Coat of Arms.'" In each of Lillie's hands, two halves of a shield which bore the family crest, depicting a knight holding up a sword to the sun beaming through rain clouds and two Arcanine kneeling to him, came together in beams of green and white light.

The card wasn't just a spell card though, as Lillie held up her Z-Ring. "Neither of us have used our Z-Rings yet. I'm going to use mine to power the attack!" As she activated it, Z-Power flowed into the shield halves, causing them to brim with power. Then, she fired waves of curving lasers which tracked Reimu's position.

Reimu knew victory was in her grasp, but wasn't sure what the shield imbued with Z-Power was capable of. She decided just to go straight for the kill, activating Fusion Flare and firing it at Lillie. But that was when Lillie revealed the attack's true power: reacting quickly, she put the shield together, and as the fireball made contact, time stopped, the shield flash, and it was reflected right back at Reimu, impacting with terrific force and breaking the Fusion Flare card.

As she recovered from the recoil, Reimu exclaimed, "huh- wha?"

"Z-Power!" Lillie boasted. "Have you already forgotten? It can repel any regular attack you try to use against it! Even without it, this shield is impregnable to all but the strongest, most brutal attack!"

Damn it, Reimu thought. She didn't count on Lillie having something like this up her sleeve - it was completely unlike anything she'd ever seen in a spell card duel. And Lillie was quick enough to respond to attacks from any angle, not to mention the lasers were dense enough to make a swift from-behind approach impractical. It obviously repelled projectiles, but Reimu hoped a physical attack could bust through it. So she mustered up Fusion Bolt, and zipped toward Lillie like a bolt from Mjolner, only to impact against the shield and have the full force of the attack blow back against her, again breaking the card.

"It's no use!" Lillie shouted. "Your attacks just can't break the Kirisame family crest!"

Reimu drew back and thought for a moment. Normally, her kami's barrier powers should break something like that... but it was powered up by Z-Power, so of course it could repel her earthly kami's abilities. All of her other cards would just get bounced back as well, causing her to lose. And timing it out wasn't a realistic option, since the curving lasers the attack also fired were super dense and tracked her position.

That left just one other option.

"Heh, nice trick, powering it up with your Z-Ring!" Reimu smiled. She then held up her Z-Ring, with the Solgalium-Z on it. "One thing though: two can play at that game. And I've got the power of Stardust on my side!" Activating the ring, power flowed into her, and from within her as well, until she flared a magnificent orange aura; ironic, she thought, how she was now using the very same power Starlight did when she fought against it to try and clinch victory.

In a swift motion, just as Lillie activated her card again, Reimu spun her gohei around extremely fast before pointing it at her, channeling the power of Stardust within her to tear open an Ultra Wormhole, catching Lillie off-guard and sucking her in, before Reimu dashed in herself. There, in Ultra Space, Lillie was dazed for a moment, before getting back her senses and taking a defensive stance. In front of her, Reimu raised her gohei again, this time brimming with light, and rose up. Reimu gathered power within her, forming the shape of a sun around her body which cast a ray down to Lillie, before Reimu shot down it. Partway down, she curled into a ball and began to spin, until spinning so fast she practically resembled a yin-yang symbol in red and white, careening down at the speed of light.

Lillie quickly closed her shield, with which Reimu collided. Gradually, Reimu intensified the spinning to break through, slowly but surely cracking the shield and causing the Z-Power to weaken until, finally, it broke.

The resulting impact seemed to pause time for a split second in a color negative, before exploding spectacularly and sending Lillie rocketing back like a meteor. Another wormhole opened up, sending her back to the champion's chamber and causing her to _SMASH_ into the floor at full force.

It took a moment for Lillie to regain her bearings, sensing Zygarde slip off of her body and back into its Pokeball. She looked up, and saw Reimu float slowly down, her light aura fading as Stardust's Pokeball clicked and the kami broke away his influence. She walked up, and stuck her gohei in Lillie's chest.

And with that, Reimu's final battle had concluded.

* * *

"...d-dammit..." Lillie weakly hissed as she lifted herself off the floor, her bones cracking as she did so.

Reimu smirked. "Well then. Seems you've come far, Lillie. But not far enough, I'm afraid." She turned to the throne. "The throne is rightfully mine. Fate knew that too, and together me, the kami, Stardust and my whole team kept you off of it."

Lillie held her head in frustration, baring her fangs and leaving one green eye open as she did so. "I... I don't get it. I... trained under you... I... tapped into all of my potential... so why..."

"Why did you lose?" Reimu said. She crossed her arms and looked down. "To tell you the truth, I don't think you did anything wrong."

Lillie was very confused when Reimu said that. "What do you mean? I couldn't beat you! Of course I did something wrong!"

"I mean what I say," Reimu responded. "...truthfully, your non-spells could use some work. But you put up an admirable fight; I haven't had a fight like that since Koishi. You came closer to beating me, the creator of the Spell Card Rules, than anyone ever has. If it weren't for the kami coming to my aid, you might have even won." She looked back up. "But... in the end, I proved my worth to the kami, and my bond with Stardust was strong. I didn't beat you and Zygarde alone - it was my bonds with them that allowed me to win."

Lillie slumped. "Your... bonds... I have a strong bond with my Pokemon too, though."

"Indeed you do. I've seen it in action." Reimu and Lillie both looked up to the moon, which shone brightly on this night. "When I first met you, I sensed that you had a lot of potential that wasn't being used. I didn't know it at the time, but it was my Aura-sensing flaring up. After I realized you and Marisa were family, I realized that potential runs in your family. Marisa is gifted in magic, and now she's almost on Patchy and Alice's level despite being many decades their junior. She also helped me come out of my shell and make friends, which is where my strength is."

She looked at Lillie. "We both come from powerful families. We each have thousands of years of strength and tradition behind us. You might think losing against me is a crushing loss, but you've proven yourself against people who call themselves "Ace Trainers" and even though you just picked up danmaku you're already better than almost everyone I know. I want you to keep improving your skills and abilities, because I just know you're destined for great things."

Lillie lightly smiled, and squeezed Reimu's hand a little.

"...now that I think about it, you're also the Prince. You came into my life during its worst moment, and you showed me how to live for myself. You gave me my family back. You showed me my potential. I have a lot to thank you for." She looked at the throne again. "I just... I just honestly thought I could take the throne for myself to show you how far I've come..."

Reimu looked at the throne herself, and sighed.

"Hm?" Lillie wondered.

"I'm the Hakurei Shrine maiden," Reimu said. "I can't do that and this at the same time. If I took the throne, I would need to appoint a replacement."

Lillie looked at her. "But... isn't it your family's tradition?"

"...yes and no," Reimu answered. "The shrine maiden must have the Hakurei family's unique powers, but they don't necessarily need to be a Hakurei themselves. It's possible to imbue another girl with those powers; Yukari's told me all about her contingencies. The problem is, few people are cut out for the job and the huge burden that comes with it..."

Reimu turned her head to Lillie again. "...but I think I know someone who would be." She held out her hand.

Lillie thought about what this meant, then jumped back in shock.

"W-wha... you really mean...?"

"It's not an easy path... but would you like me to show you down it?"

Lillie thought about Reimu's offer. She thought about how Reimu, being the reincarnation of the Prince, really did earn and deserve that throne. That would require the Hakurei Shrine have a successor. She thought about how Reimu had seen her skills firsthand; to just get this offer meant that she was confident enough in Lillie's abilities to do it. And Lillie always thought about what she would do as a job; managing a historic shrine was an opportunity that probably wasn't going to come up again. She owed a lot to Reimu... taking up the shrine for her was the least she could do to pledge her eternal thanks.

So, she didn't hesitate in her decision.

"Yes."


	54. A Brand New Beginning

The sky was clear and cloudless. The sun shone brilliantly. The songs of bird Pokemon filled the air, and mighty Gyarados and Wailord roamed the sea. And on Oma'Oma'O, the mood was a festive one.

People walked the streets of Gensokyo City, whose traditional architecture and streets contrasted with the skeletal exteriors of the still-under-construction high-rise hotels and office buildings, and the cranes hoisting materials up to them. Vendors filled the streets, people and their Pokemon companions laughed and joked, sunbathers and surfers swarmed the beaches catching rays and waves. The light rail, just opened, pulled into the platform crowded with tourists and residents, accepting them until the transit police could cram in no more. The doors closed, and the train took off to the only open stop so far, paralleling equally crowded buses all heading to the same destination.

That destination was the Hakurei Shrine, where a grand festival, one to celebrate the new Grand Kahuna of Alola, was being held. Here, old friends and new mingled, sharing punch and mixed drinks. Villagers marveled at the Hula Dancers and their Oricorio partners, while traditional geishas and kabuki players did their routine in front of amazed tourists from near and far. Kiawe's Marowak did a mystic, fiery dance for a group of kids, Mallow and Lana helped Mystia run a food stand selling tasty grilled fish, and of course people's Pokemon matched wit and power in battles here and there. The steps up to the shrine were absolutely crowded, with the throngs all vying to witness the Grand Kahuna's coronation.

The shine itself was dressed up for the occasion, and a curtain obscured the shrine's name on the torii. The traditional Shinto tassels and monuments had been temporarily swapped for tropical flowers, Tapu idols and Island Challenge symbols. The Kahunas each stood to the side of the stone pathway, with all of Reimu's friends in attendance as well. Finally, the crowd cleared a path for the Prime Minister of Alola herself to walk up and face the shrine, waiting for the new champion to emerge from within.

"...aaaand done!" Reimu stepped back from Lillie, who was in front of a mirror, after tying the bow to her hair and getting the hair tubes in place. "Well, what do you think?"

Lillie took a moment to look at herself, and the custom shrine maiden outfit she wore which was designed by Reimu with Alice and Kourin's help. Reimu wanted to make sure it would help keep Lillie cool in Alola's climate, so the result was something resembling Reimu's own stylized outfit with the detached sleeves, featuring a green shirt with white sleeve and an ascot, along with a primarily black skirt. The fibers were woven using material from a flower found only on the islands, light and breathable but tougher than steel as well even before the enchantments that let it resist the most powerful of attacks.

Lillie blushed. "It's very... light..." She spun around, causing the dress to flow with grace and fluidity. She turned to face Reimu, smiling. "It's almost like I'm wearing the wind itself."

Reimu chuckled. "Your dress was designed by the pros, after all. I paid them very good money to make it."

"I'm sure your dress wasn't very cheap either," Lillie joked. And Reimu's dress certainly was a work of art itself, consisting of hardwood sandals, a long, golden skirt with tribal prints and a long side-slit, a floral-print top baring her midriff, and the most standout feature: a vibrant cape which flared out into five colored feather designs, one for each island. On the left side of her hair, an extremely rare red-and-white flower, enchanted to last forever and never wilt. And in her hand, a long, golden staff topped with the symbol of the Sunne, a reference to the legend whose power she commanded. It was in this outfit that she would greet challengers facing the final trial on their Island Challenge; all that was missing was the crown she would soon receive. The dress was conceived by native Alolan fashion designers working with tribal historians, who claimed that the dress, with some additions, was essentially a female version of the one Prince Kamehameha would have worn as king.

"I still think it's a little breezy," Reimu admitted, "and certainly more 'grand' than anything I've ever worn. I still wonder if I'm even worthy of it."

"I'd say it suits you even more," Lillie said, "because you won it, not just inherited it."

"For sure," came a voice walking in from the other room. It was Marisa, still dressed in her showy outfit from the other day, with the addition of an ear and mouthpiece. She looked at the two of them, checking them out, and whistled. "Dang. You two look _waaay_ too perfect in those."

"Er... thanks," Reimu said, blushing. She always did when she got Marisa's praise that had hints of "hitting on" her. But then, that was Marisa being herself.

"I wonder what everyone else will think when we step out," Lillie wondered. "No one else's ever seen these dresses before today."

"I'm sure you both'll get cheers when you step out there and steal the show," Marisa smirked. "Ya both are what everyone's here to see, after all."

Reimu looked off to the side. "Um... how many cameras did you say were out there?"

"Something like sixty stations from across the world," Marisa answered from off the top of her head. "They're predicting two billion viewers." That made the two girls more nervous, knowing that the whole world was about to watch them. That was many orders of magnitude more people than Reimu had ever _seen,_ let alone known. But then Marisa patted her back. "But, eh, don't worry 'bout it. Just pretend no one's there and you'll be fine. Be yourself, and have fun. Own the scene. That's the you everyone wants to see."

Reimu thought for a moment, then smiled. "Thanks."

"That's what friends are for," Marisa said. "Same goes to you, Lillie. You got this, and we're all really proud of you."

Lillie's head wandered a bit, before she focused on something. "That reminds me... what about-"

"Oh, right," Reimu said. She went to another room for a bit before coming back with her gohei in her left hand.

"What'cha gonna do with that old thing?" Marisa asked.

Reimu breathed, then told her, "I spent most of last night performing a ritual to transfer all of my powers into it. My blessings, god-channeling abilities, flight in and out of reality... everything."

Marisa's eyes widened. "Wait, so, you mean..."

"Yes," Reimu affirmed. "From today onward, I'll no longer be the shrine maiden. Instead, my powers will all transfer into the next person who touches this." She turned to face Lillie. "I taught Lillie all that I know, and this will give her the ability to fulfill the shrine's duty. It was just a couple weeks of me lecturing her, but once she ascends to the role she'll be able to do it like she's done it from birth. We also bound a new god to the shrine, whose blessings and powers she can channel. I will hand this to her in front of everyone, once the time is right to announce the change of hands."

Marisa rubbed her chin. "So... I guess that means you're just like a normal human without powers now."

"Oh, whoever said _that?_" Reimu asked playfully, as Aura surrounded her body and she levitated. "I can still fly and fight, with the power of Aura. Sense people's feelings and spirit energy. If anything, the shrine maiden powers at this point are superfluous." The Aura died down as Reimu landed gracefully back onto the ground.

Marisa nodded her head. "I see... I see..." She chuckled. "Y'know, the Kirisames have stolen a lotta things over the years, and I've stolen lots of books, treasure and artifacts. Never thought we'd steal the Shrine, but then again, you've got bigger fish to fry now and don't need it. I'm actually kinda flattered."

Reimu's shoulders slumped. "You're taking such a historic change very casually," she said.

"Eh, change is change," Marisa shrugged. "Big or small, good or bad, you just gotta take it like it is and not get hung up on it."

"I see," Reimu smiled. "Then why'd you feel the need to do _that_ to Aya? Or what about poor Sanae? You know she's still coming to me crying like a baby about those Beedrills."

"Look, even I've got standards and an image to maintain, however low that image is," Marisa replied. "I don't mind people mocking me because they think I'm weak, but making me go to Kourin drunk and in an embarrassing dress? That there is a red line, and if you cross it I have ways to make your life hell." She put her arms to her side and seemed really proud of herself in that moment.

Reimu glanced over to Lillie and whispered, "given all the mushrooms and drugs she has, I'm glad she's too nice to use them for bad things." Lillie just nodded in agreement.

Just then, a voice came on through Marisa' earpiece. "Ms. Kirisame, you're live in thirty seconds."

"Gotcha," Marisa said. She looked at the other two. "Sounds like showtime's almost here. Ya both ready?"

Reimu and Lillie both looked at each other for a moment, then nodded in agreement. No time for reminiscing or what-ifs. Just going out, facing the crowd and running the show.

"Yes," they replied in unison.

"That's what I needed to hear!" Marisa said clapping, before turning and stepping out toward the door and the crowd beyond.

* * *

As Marisa stepped out to greet the throngs of people out there that day, the crowd hushed, the cameras trained on her, and up above, the Tapu, just out of view, waited for the historic moment to come. Marisa glanced to the side, where Nitori gave her the thumbs-up that she was live and good to go. And with that, she continued forward, holding out her arms.

"Goooooood morning, Alola!" Marisa bellowed. "My name is Marisa Kirisame, your hostess of honor, and close friend of the soon-to-be-crowned Grand Kahuna." The crowd cheered and clapped upon the mention of those words, which resonated upon the kahunas like it wasn't real to them.

"Oh please," Marisa blushed, "save it for her, I'm not worth hardly nothin'." She faced the cameras. "Jokes aside, I wanna thank each and every single one of ya for bein' out here today. And for those of you at home, y'all have no idea how honored we are here on beautiful Oma'Oma'O Island to have you take time today and watch this momentous occasion, both for us and for the world." Out on the sidelines, friends of Marisa still couldn't believe that she could just throw herself out there on the hot seat so confidently. Alice, however, had no doubt in her mind; if there was one thing Marisa was skilled at, it was socializing and not caring if she was making a fool of herself, all things you needed to appear before a crowd like that.

Marisa then continued, "but before I introduce the Grand Kahuna herself, I want to share a story with all y'all about how I met her and how much she's influenced my life." She cleared her throat. "A long time ago, when I was a nugget, me and my dad were both sucked away from here by an Ultra Wormhole created by Necrozma. We wound up here in this place, Gensokyo, which was full of scary monsters and whose way of like was totally different from what we were used to. Bein' Kirisames, though, we learned to live in that place just fine. Then, when I was a little older, I met Reimu, here runnin' the shrine all by herself, and even though she was a kid she ripped through no-good ne'er-do-wells like no one's business. I wanted to be just as awesome as she was and prove I could stand against those tryin' to put me down, so I learned how to fight, do magic and follow in her steps. At the same time I helped her open up to the world and make friends, which is how she now gets her power. We solved incidents together, before the time came for Necrozma to show up, mess up everything we both knew, and dump our home here in Alola. With all our power combined, we helped her put down Necrozma's threat for good." The crowd oooh'ed and aaah'ed as Marisa went on about the exploits the two had been on.

Marisa then looked down, eyes closed. "But then, that's when we learned what Necrozma really wanted: it wanted to give us all a good life here in Alola, and bring light to the tumultuous world we hailed from. Necrozma, we found out, was a bleeding heart who only did what it did out of fear. The Prince tried to kill it, it threw the Prince through a wormhole to save itself. Gods have instincts the same as all of us. In fact, the reason Necrozma exists is because it used to be an old, sacred Lunala, but sacrificed itself to prevent millions from getting killed by a powerful weapon, but instead of dyin' it turned into what it is now. Even the Delta Cascade wasn't its fault, but that of someone who overloaded it with power against its will. It wanted to do good by returning the Prince to his home, even if his soul was in a different body who didn't remember that life. And because Reimu was so good at making friends, she helped it sort through its problems, and in the end it resolved to do the right thing, every time. Now, we here on Oma'Oma'O look forward to bright times ahead, while that world awaits a brighter future as well." This revelation that Necrozma wasn't an evil force, but just a misunderstood, lost god who had found its way with help caused chatter among the crowd, and served to impress people even more that Reimu was really "the one", to be able to repel it without destroying it.

Marisa looked back up, puffing out her chest. "This is a girl who's faced trial after trial, faced the dark so that the innocent could sleep easy, and shepherded the lost into the light." She held out her hand to the entrance of the shrine. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: the Grand Kahuna, Reimu Hakurei!"

Reimu, just inside the door, knew that this was it. The world was waiting for her out there. They were waiting for their hero. Taking a deep breath, she held her head up high, undid the latch, and threw that thing open before walking into the blinding light.

People held their breath and applause as the world fixated on that sliding door. After what seemed like forever, the door flung open, and as it did, the beating of drums, sounding of pipes, the rattling of tambourines and the chorus of native singers heralded the mythic figure, clad in a five-colored cape, who faced the crowd, staff in one hand and gohei in the other, stepped down the wood steps, and strutted down the path, to the sound of thunderous cheers and applause, and the flashing of cameras. Never before had she felt so important, so powerful, so respected and loved. To have arrived here, on this day and in such a lofty position... just a few months ago, it was entirely unthinkable. Now, she felt like a queen, because she really was - having now reclaimed the throne which her past incarnation had been denied.

People cheered her name, holding up homemade signs, whistling, and screaming at the top of their lungs. Across the world, viewers rose from their seats, those watching from phones fist-pumped with their other arm, and an announcer described the event to those listening in on the radio. The whole world's energy resonated with her - she could feel it. Through the Aura, their spirit reached out to her, encouraged her, gave her power. Even those who knew her from before this incident who didn't care for her had to admit - she was the real deal, who stepped up to save the day for countless many, and leading those who had lost their way in life. She had to return that energy somehow, so she raised the staff in her right hand high, the Sunne emblem shining brightly in the light like a beacon, causing the crowd to grow even louder.

Reimu stopped, a few feet before the Prime Minister, who smiled at her in anticipation. Even though Reimu didn't hold any real legal authority, the woman before her still felt compelled to kneel before her. Soon after, all four Kahunas knelt to the ground, as did the Trial Captains, who had all come up by this point. Very soon, nearly everyone else present followed suit, even the Youkai Sages. Such was the grandeur exuded by her, that all felt compelled to bow down to her majesty. It was totally unlike anything she had ever experienced, especially when she struggled to get any real respect before but now it was being handed to her by the truckload. Just her very presence was, right now, causing the world to stop.

On the outside, her expression was neutral. Inside, however, she was amused by it all. She was definitely going to milk the "queen" game for all it was worth at the moment.

She rose her staff once more. "You may rise." And like clockwork, everyone rose back up.

Marisa came to her side with a microphone, in addition to the mess of mics around her recording the event along with all the cameras. It seemed odd to her that the tengu weren't the ones doing this, but then again Aya was one of the very few Gensokyo denizens unable to make it in person, being on the other side of the globe doing a shoot for her first appearance in a high-street fashion magazine. Odder still was the fact that _Marisa_ of all people was conducting an interview.

"So, miss Champ," Marisa asked, "howddya feel about all this? Bein' the Grand Kahuna and all, I mean?"

Reimu thought about her answer, then said, "I feel like these last couple of months have been the weirdest in my entire life. It still doesn't all feel real yet to me."

"You can say that again," Marisa chuckled, prompting the crowd to burst out laughing as well. "Sometimes, I still feel like I'm gonna wake up on my bed and it's the middle of winter and none of this actually happened and it was a dream I had because of the alcohol I drank last night."

"Trust me, I feel like that happened to me for a couple nights after having Mamizou's homebrew," Reimu said. She looked at the crowd and told them "just so you all know, I wouldn't recommend drinking anything offered to you here that didn't come from a sealed container or a tap. And even then I can't make guarantees, especially since it'll be two and a half years before I can drink anything legally again." She peered over to Suika. "And especially don't accept a drinking contest challenge from that oni over there. She will beat you, no exceptions." Again, the crowd erupted into even more uproarious laughs.

After Marisa managed to stop herself from giggling, she then asked Reimu, "alright, alright. We ain't here to talk about booze. We're here to talk about how you feel as practically the queen of the islands."

Reimu looked around for a bit, at the sights and surrounding around her. "Well, I mean, what am I supposed to say? I already had a lot on my plate as the Hakurei Shrine maiden before, then I was transported to this place. The whole time, I tried to find a way to find back home, never once realizing my soul came from here originally. Maybe that's why I explored the islands, completed the Island Challenge, raced, surfed, did all that stuff. It was like the Prince was controlling my actions, retracing his old steps."

Marisa chuckled again. "Hey, just because a dead guy is possessin' 'ya doesn't mean you'll stop bein' Reimu to me or us," she said. "The only thing that matters is that you crushed all the trainers in your path and claimed that throne for yourself."

"That is true," Reimu replied, "but I didn't do it alone, and not just because you, Lillie, Hau, Elio and everyone else were there for me during that incident. No trainer fights alone; they rely on the bonds they share with their Pokemon to work as a team and bring down the opponent. I worked with the kami of the shrine before, channeling their power to solve incidents and delivering them prayers. Now, I command my team and dare them to think outside the box and push their limits. In exchange, we train together, eat together, and sometimes they demand belly-rubs." She glanced aside, then said softly, "oh, and I figured out how to play spin-the-kitty with Sasha."

Marisa looked at Reimu with shock as the rest of the crowd gasped, then howled at the mental image of trying to spin an Incineroar on the ground.

Shaking her head, Marisa moved on to her next topic. "That's... uh, interesting! Anyway, before we move on with the coronation, there's something you need to do first, if I'm not mistaken."

"There sure is," Reimu said. "I can't just leave this shrine without a keeper. That is why I've tapped the one person whom I've met that can match my potential to take up the reins and bring hope and faith to the people of this island, and all of Alola as well." She turned to face the shrine. "Now then, will the maiden of the shrine step forward?"

Again, there was a moment of silence as the crowd awaited the opening of the door, before it slid open again, revealing Lillie in her miko outfit. Like Reimu before her, she strutted forward, putting on her bravest face for the crowd. Cameras flashed, people cheered. It was all so much more attention than Lillie was used to being heaped onto her, but then again she realized the huge honor of just being here today. Never before did she consider that she could be a shrine maiden of all things, especially since a couple months back she felt there was no escape from her mother's degenerating mental state. Now she was a hero who stood alongside Reimu to face down Necrozma, and win. Not only that, but thanks to the efforts of that doctor, her mom was back. And, she realized, Necrozma had reunited her family on its own goodwill, where before it tore her family apart against its will. Said reunion also brought Reimu into her life, who guided her to become a confident and tenacious young lady, whose prowess in both Pokemon battles and even Spell Card Duels was surpassed only by the person she considered both her close friend and sensei. Now, she prepared to assume the weight of a thousand years of warriors onto her shoulders, whose legacy would now pass through her branch of the vast Kirisame family tree.

Upon reaching Reimu, she knelt on one knee in respect of her teacher.

"Rise, my friend," Reimu commanded. The two girls looked each other in the eye for a few seconds, before she faced the crowd, speaking again.

"This is the maiden of the shrine, Lillie Kirisame." She held the gohei out for all to see. "And this gohei, passed down through generations of Hakureis and imbued with endless amounts of holy power, shall bestow upon her the powers of the shrine, refined over one thousand years, and enable her to carry out the teachings and instructions I have given her." To those unfamiliar with religion, it seemed unbelievable that a simple stick with a paper tassel hanging off of it could be such an old, powerful artifact with the power to channel the blessings of a god. So radiant was its holy energy, that revelers whose Ghost Pokemon companions were out alongside them noticed their friends moving to hide from the sight of it in fear. By contrast, Alice's Arcovenant (whom she had since named Maria) found herself drawn to it, a testament to that species' ability to sense and be drawn to holy power.

Reimu turned to face Lillie, holding the gohei out toward her. This was a ritual that had been done many times before by her ancestors: the outgiong shrine maiden transferred their power into the ancestral gohei, and the new one accepted it, the power flowing into their body and allowing them to carry out the shrine's duties. The old one would then usually retire to the village, along with their spouses if they had one. Reimu was, of course, an exception due to her mother being killed when she was four, but even then Yukari had contingencies for just such a scenario, writing in a clause to the shrine that the power would automatically transfer should the current shrine maiden die; given the nature of the job, Reimu wasn't even the first time it happened (it had occurred five times before), just the youngest. And just as Reimu assumed the role early, so was she relinquishing it early as well, being only slightly older than the traditional age at which the new shrine maiden completed her training and took on the role. The last key difference: past shrine maidens, once they stepped down from their position, would fade into the background. But Reimu would be doing the opposite, shedding the shrine maiden role to ascend to the throne that was not only in her birthright due to her Royal Alolan lineage, but which her soul was destined to occupy and face starry-eyed challengers who had conquered every challenge before her.

"Now then, Lillie," Reimu asked, "do you solemnly swear to uphold the integrity of the shrine, empower the god of the shrine with blessings, and dedicate yourself to defending this island from all manner of threats, however large or small?"

Lillie did not hesitate to say, "yes, I do."

Reimu continued, "once you take this gohei, there is no going back. The responsibility of the shrine will fall unto you, and you will continue the tradition that my family before had upheld. You will assume this duty until your child or another suitable successor is chosen by you and only you to continue the duty once you yourself are no longer able to do so. Do you still agree to take up my gohei?"

Again, Lillie did not hesitate. This day was what she was training for, and she was eager to take up the reins of the shrine.

"I do," she said earnestly.

Reimu nodded. "Then there is no more for me to say." She flipped the gohei horizontally in her hand, while Lillie held out both of hers to accept it. Reimu lowered the gohei down to them - she hesitated a little before doing so - before Lillie's fingers grasped it, and Reimu could let go.

Not a second went by before the effect of the enchantment began to be felt by Lillie, who felt a surge of power flush into her from her hands. Onlookers saw a wind kick up immediately around her, accompanied by a soft glow from her and the gohei which steadily intensified, as well as ominous Japanese chanting as Lillie received the blessing of the entire Hakurei lineage. Throughout the process, Lillie closed her eyes and tilted her head up, doing nothing to resist the flow of power into her. Her mind created visions of fast-forwarding through training which Reimu had undergone, impressing upon her mind and body years of experience into just a couple of minutes. The two yin-yang orbs, sensing their new owner, floated outside and began to orbit around Lillie, turning black and green in order to match her color scheme. The final touch was a tingling sensation across her whole body, as the supernatural and holy powers folded themselves down into her very genes, ensuring that her descendants would inherit her new abilities as well.

After a few minutes, the special effects died down, and Lillie opened her eyes. Moving her arms around, she could feel newfound strength and resolve beyond even what she had before. She also felt a certain restlessness, like her feet were ready to jump up into the air and take flight through all sorts of barriers and dimensions. And she also felt very enlightened, like a fog had been sliced and diced in her mind and the weights of being a normal human had been removed.

Reimu looked at her, with a smile on her face. "Now then," she asked, "what is the first thing you shall do?" Lillie knew what Reimu was trying to cue her in to do; they practiced this for the past couple of nights. So, turning to face the crowd, she held the gohei high in the air, letting the wind catch the tassel, and spoke.

"Kirisame no okami kuru!" Which meant roughly, "Come forth, the great god of Kirisame!"

Within moments, green cells from across the islands reacted to the words, scuttling from their hiding spots to race toward the shrine at blinding speed. Everywhere, people jumped in surprise as these cells rushed past, gliding across the contours of the land and leaving wakes in the ocean waters. Soon they reached the shores of Oma'Oma'O Island, where they raced across the semi-arid scrublands that had replaced the verdant meadows Gensokyo once had, where fuzzy sagebrush caught cells here and there before the cells shook free to continue their trek. Eventually they converged on the green gap between two peaks where the shrine stood, where onlookers soon sensed the presence of many and parted to let the cells through. A rush of wind came in at that moment, blowing the curtain over the torii violently before tearing it away completely, revealing the metal plate inscribed with the kanji for "Kirisame" on it - revealing the shrine's new name.

These figures congregated on a spot just behind Lillie, who didn't even flinch the whole time it was happening, while Reimu only casually stepped aside to stay out of the way of the formation. People watching the event, be it in person or on TV, were spellbound and mystified as they watched this occurrence play out. The cells formed a vaguely serpentine shape, before the regal several-pointed collar formed behind its head and the hexagonal scales shone. Now fully formed, Zygarde reared its head up and roared, causing the ground around it to shimmer with green lights and prompting cheers from the crowd, as well as assurance in the hearts of the native residents of the island that their well-being was in good hands under the Guardian of Order.

Silence for a few moments, before Lillie felt a big slap on her back as Marisa gave her a thumbs-up and a smile, facing her hand out to show the wedding ring on her finger. The two sisters looked to the crowd where a cheering and whooping Mohn and Lusamine stood side-by-side, as did Gladion and Selene, who had recently started dating for real, Alice, who waved her hand and who had a matching ring on her hand, and Sunshine. All of them, Lillie's family, were so happy for her and her accomplishment.

Lillie couldn't help but give the most beautiful smile she had ever given.

"You did it!" came a voice from the crowd, Hau's. The boy ran right up to Lillie and gave her a big hug. That's when she realized that for a seemingly small boy like him, he sure was strong, just like his grandpa and the Fighting-types he trained.

"Ehehe, it's nothing," Lillie said patting his head. Of course there were several aww's from the crowd, watching these two kids give each other compliments after all they had been through. The two took their little heart-to-heart to the side, knowing that they would be getting in the way of the main event.

Reimu turned to face the sky, driving her staff into the ground and looking up at the waiting Tapu. Again, this was a subtle cue, this time for Sunshine to release Nebby from its Pokeball while Reimu, in a sleight-of-hand motion, sent out Stardust. Both joined Zygarde on either side of it, Stardust crashing down and roaring while shining its brilliant white mane, Nebby swooping down and shrieking its haunting night's cry. The sight of both drove the crowd nuts, since both of these legends of Alola were right here, right now. For many, this would be the one time in their lives that they saw both them and all five Tapu in one place. Truly, it was a mystical experience unlike any that a lot of people had ever seen.

The drummers and dancers on the sidelines began beating their drums, chanting and shaking their tambourines. One by one, the Tapu flew down into their respective positions. Tapu Koko flew down first, then Lele, Bulu and Fini. As they came down, each one bowed down to her majesty, swearing to work alongside her to safeguard the islands. The last one to come down was Tapu Mo'o, who came right in front of her holding the crown: a golden helmet whose crest bore feathers in all the colors representing the islands. The music intensified as Reimu knelt down, and allowed the Tapu to place the crown upon her head, stopping just as she was crowned.

Silence, for a moment, before the crowd started clapping, then cheering and whistling. The three sages, watching from near the front, couldn't help but feel proud that the Hakurei Shrine maiden had ascended to a new and even greater duty, Yukari in particular wiping a tear from her face as she smiled lightly.

* * *

"And there you have it, folks!" Marisa called out. "The new shrine maiden, and the Grand Kahuna herself!" She turned to face the regular Kahunas, who had come up alongside their new boss to pay tribute. All were glad for Reimu's achievement, and even Nanu was smiling.

"Oh, stop, your making me blush, you witch," Reimu teased, causing the crowd to laugh.

Hala looked around, and said, "you know, I see something missing here!"

"Hm?" Reimu wondered.

"There's only four of us Kahunas! This island doesn't have one yet!"

"...aha, I see." Reimu faced Tapu Mo'o. "The Tapu are responsible for choosing the Kahuna, so would you kindly-"

Instead, Tapu Mo'o just bowed, and put its hand out to her. Reimu was confused, before Sunshine told her, "it wants you to select them."

"M-me?" Reimu was surprised.

"Why not?" Marisa asked. "I mean, you are the Grand Kahuna now! And, you know this island better than anyone! Surely, you know someone who can fill the role of this island's Kahuna like only a true Gensokyo denizen can!"

Reimu lowered her head. "...I see." So, she scanned the crowd, looking for someone skilled enough, strong enough, and... er, green enough to fulfill the duty of Kahuna of this island. So searched around, and saw one girl in particular chatting away with a Pokemon collector about various things.

A slight smirk drew on Reimu's face.

"Sanae," she said.

Sanae turned her head, surprised. "Er, yeah?"

"Come."

It took Sanae a moment to register Reimu's words, before realizing what she wanted. So, she mustered up a brave face, and strutted up to her, the tribal band playing mystical music as she did so. Her green, silky hair blew gently in the breeze, and in that moment she seemed to convey a sense of authority that she never had before. Both Kanako and Suwako would have watched this unfold, if not for the fact that they were inside Pokeballs hidden underneath her dress. The whole world watched as she came up to Reimu, who stood there expectantly while Tapu Mo'o readied a Sparkling Stone.

Sanae knelt down in front of her, a little begrudgingly knowing that this person was her rival, but still knelt out of respect.

"Sanae," Reimu said, "you may still be inexperienced compared to me, but as the only other shrine maiden I've ever known with the same talent for solving incidents and sealing away evil spirits, I do hold great respect for you."

Sanae snickered. "I'm flattered. 'specially seeing as how you're not a shrine maiden anymore."

"Because I've ascended to my true calling," Reimu responded. "And Lillie here is every bit as skilled as I was before, as my powers are now hers. Now then, do you swear to uphold the integrity of this island and guide Island Challengers to their goal?"

Sanae nodded. "Of course."

"Do you swear your absolute and undying loyalty to the guardian of this island, the dragon who wove the Hakurei Border and who commands the respect of all other beings around it?"

"It would be an honor," Sanae answered. "It's what Kanako-sama and Suwako-sama would want, for me to answer to the Great Dragon personally."

Reimu smiled. "Then, accept this Sparkling Stone and take on your new legacy." The stone shined brightly as Sanae took it from Tapu Mo'o's hands, stood up, and faced the crowd. "Everyone, I would like to introduce to you, the Kahuna of Oma'Oma'O Island." Everyone cheered and clapped for Sanae, who blushed and smiled as, for perhaps the first time in her life, other people recognized her for her skills and strengths and didn't treat her like an outcast, and for that first time to be the whole world heaping praise on her resonated deeply within her heart.

"That's right!" she chirped. "I will wait atop Youkai Mountain, and battle all challengers with the power of..." She trailed off, then turned to Reimu and whispered, "er, what's not taken?"

Reimu racked her brain for a moment before answering, "well, Molayne recently found a proper successor for the Steel trial somewhere else on Ula'Ula, so Flying, Ice, Bug, Poison and Psychic."

Sanae clapped her hands. "Perfect!" She turned to the crowd again and exclaimed, "...and battle all challengers with the power of the winds!" At that moment, a strong gust blew down the mountainside, catching everyone off-guard and blowing dresses and accessories violently, before the crowd shouted and whistled once more.

Sanae, having now accepted her newfound duty, adjusted her stance, and declared, "now, as the Kahuna, I'm gonna have to staff this island with some Trial Captains. And I'm gonna do it right now, so you'd better be ready!" She decided it would be appropriate to use up all of the last four types, and looked around the crowd to recruit some suitable Captains. Ice was an obvious choice, as she pointed at Cirno and asked the ice fairy to come up.

"Alright!" Cirno grinned. "I'm gonna prove to everyone that I'm the strongest!" She fluttered on up as the Fairies of Light and Clownpiece cheered her on, and settled down right beside Sanae.

"Well, that takes care of that," Sanae smiled. She decided to fill the Bug slot next, and like Ice it didn't take much imagination to come up with the perfect fit for that role, since what better than someone who used to be an insect to be a Bug Captain? And so Wriggle, anxious but honored all the same, came up and shuffled up next to Cirno.

"I, err... I promise to unleash all the critters and crawlers of the night upon you!" she awkwardly declared. The crowd laughed in endearment.

Poison proved a tad trickier to pick, but then Sanae remembered a person who specialized in that sort of thing. She hesitated for a moment before actually pointing them out, though, since they were known to dislike humans but had softened up a bit ever since coming to this world, especially after Yuuka of all people made a promise to keep her in check (it did help that Yuuka now had minions in the form of Hip-Hop Oricorio to defend her flowers for her).

As Medicine and Su-San stepped up, Sanae asked her sternly, "you're not going to try and poison anyone, alright?"

Medicine kicked her feet around. "Of course not. As long as there's a steady stream of trainers willing to take me and Su-Chan on." Su-San, of course, transformed into a Murdoll the same as Ichigo had become a Wisdoll, her weapon of choice being a Bowie knife. "Plus Yuuka-san will help me out."

"Yes," Yuuka slyly smiled as a vine rose from the ground, sprouted leaves, and several Oricorio danced on it. "They will find a most interesting trial waiting for them."

Sanae gulped a little. "Er... sounds good."

A moment later, Guzma and Plumeria walked up alongside the girls. "I can offer some advice if you would find it helpful," Plumeria offered.

"And I know all the strongest Bug Pokemon in the islands," Guzma boasted to Wriggle. "If you're gonna make a Bug trial, it's gotta be Guzma-approved before any trial-goers challenge it."

Reimu could tell Guzma was happy; even if the trial wasn't his, he was on the Elite Four, and everyone knew an insect youkai would probably be a better Bug captain than any human, not that that stopped Guzma from offering to be Wriggle's mentor. And Plumeria seemed more than glad to assist Medicine and Yuuka in designing a trial, and perhaps tempering their moods. Sanae was making all the right choices, in her opinion.

That left just Psychic to appoint a captain for. Everyone knew the story of the one Alakazam and were a little trepidatious about giving it another go. Whoever conducted such a trial really needed to be on-point about making sure their Totem didn't overload; only the most capable of Psychic trainers could do that, and no one did a better job at training them than someone with psychic powers themselves...

Sanae thought long and hard about who she should pick. Satori was her first thought, but she was a bit of a shut-in and former Hell might be a big ask for a kid on their island challenge. Her sister Koishi, while having gotten back something of a consciousness thanks to her Faller ability, was still an aloof airhead who might try to shove Freudian psychology in people's faces. Ruling out those two didn't leave much in the way of other options...

She turned her head to Sunshine, who was looking at her with anticipation.

"Hm?" Sanae wondered. "Do you need something?"

Sunshine walked up to her. "May I?"

"Eh?" Sanae was a little surprised by Sunshine's suddenness. "But, aren't you already on the Elite Four?"

Sunshine cocked an eyebrow and smirked. "I'm a _god,_ remember? I think I can juggle being both at the same time plus going to school!"

"Don't even need to be a god to do it!" Marisa smiled. "Acerola already agreed to fill in for me while me and Alice are off at University, and I'll still do it over the summers!"

Sanae thought for a second, then said, "ah... I see!" She stepped aside and allowed Sunshine up next to the other three. Then, all of them turned to face the flashing cameras while smiling and waving.

"And there you have it," Reimu declared, "the Kahuna and her four trial captains!" The audience's deafening applause echoed all across the mountainside and down into the canyons and plains.

Once the applause died down, Tapu Mo'o came up to Su-San and examined her. At first, no one was sure what it was doing, but soon, it raised its arms, calling upon Stardust and Nebby to grant it the ability to channel Ultra Radiation and bless it as Totem Power to Pokemon. The beasts combined their power to create an Ultra Wormhole, from which the energy streamed out of and imbued itself into the Dragon Tapu. It then transferred this power into Su-San, who grew in size until she was almost as big as Medicine herself.

"Su-Chan!" Medicine exclaimed. "You got so big!"

Reimu crossed her arms. "Seems as though the Tapu has chosen your companion to also be your trial's Totem!" Her heart warmed as the doll hugged her now plus-sized companion, which was met with adoration by the audience.

With the selection of the Kahuna and captains now complete, Tapu Mo'o took off down over the heads of spectators into the lands below, in search of worthy Pokemon to turn into Totems for the other three trials. The rest of the Tapu took off into the sky, glimmering as bright dots as they descended back down onto their home islands. As the crowd cheered and sent the Tapu off on their way, two men in the crowd watched and waved, before their heads slowly turned to each other.

Hilbert and N locked eyes for a while. Then, wordlessly, they came closer to each other, hugged, and passionately kissed, reunited at last thanks to the Red and White Grand Kahuna's magic.

"Well folks," Marisa said getting back onto the mic, "that just about wraps up the ceremony. But first," she looked around to the friends all around them, "why don't we all get together for a group photo? Y'know, the class of 'solvin' this huge incident?'"

Lillie clapped her hands. "That sounds like a wonderful idea!"

Hau smiled and jumped. "Yeah, a group photo! So everyone knows it was all of us!"

After a moment's hesitation, Gladion smiled. "Well, alright." So he waved and motioned people to come up. Standing front and center was Reimu herself, with Lillie and Hau, her closest companions throughout this journey, joining her at either side. Elio and Selene stood on one side of them, the Kirisames, including Lusamine and Mohn, Alice and Sunshine, stood on the other. The trial captains and Kahunas all joined in, as did Yukari and the sages. Each of the front three had their starters out posing for the camera, while the legends including Zygarde were in the back.

Before the picture could be taken by Rotom, the Prime Minister came up to the group. "Congratulations," she bowed. "I want you to know that all of us are inspired by your courage and determination." She produced a set of medals. "I want you to have these, to commemorate your achievement and serving as role models for us and the world." She passed the medals around, inscribed with the Regional Seal as well as their names: Hau, Lillie, Marisa, Alice, Sunshine and Elio, as well as Reimu, whose medal was the biggest of all of them. They were chosen to receive medals as all were the ones who initially went to Ultra Gensokyo to face down Necrozma.

"It's an honor," Reimu said.

"Awesome, a medal!" Marisa exclaimed, holding hers up while Alice chuckled.

With everything in place, Reimu motioned for Rotom to emerge, all of them said cheese, and the commemorative picture was taken.

Several hours later, after the crowds went home, a group stayed at the shrine and chatted for a while. Lillie made everyone dinner; now that the shrine was hers she felt compelled to offer her guests some hospitality. Reimu by now had all of her things packed and ready to move into a stylish new seaside condo just outside of Malie City, which would be her home from tomorrow onward. It felt weird moving out of the shrine she had called home since her birth and which her family had occupied for generations, but it was also an exciting change, and she felt certain it was in good hands now that it was in Lillie's care.

"And what of the old Kami of the shrine?" Yukari asked.

"Well, we had a heart-to-heart yesterday," Reimu told her. "Elio was also there with me. Basically, we each have half of it in our care, if that makes any sense."

"I'm surprised a god can even function while split in half," Marisa said between bites of soba.

"It's not unusual at all," Reimu said. "Aren't you familiar with Ardhanarishvara?"

"Yeah, but wasn't Ardha formed from Shiva and Parvati, two separate beings?"

"You get the point," Reimu said sipping on tea. "Or what about the Great Dragon? That's a pretty powerful split god."

Marisa looked up. "Eh?"

"She right," Yukari explained. "The Great Dragon was once one of the heads of the nine-headed Kuzuryu, an evil dragon who sought sacrifices from the people who lived near Lake Ashi, born from a demonization of the Hindu god Ananta Shesha. One of the heads, however, became more powerful than the others and renounced its vile ways, and split off from them in search of enlightenment; the remaining heads became known as the Yamata no Orochi, which was of course slain by Susano-o. The head soon came under the ownership of Izanagi, who blessed it and cleansed it of evil, rechristening it the Kuzuryu-no-Okami, or 'Great God Kuzuryu'. Over time, the dragon accumulated power under Izanagi's guidance until it grew to be the most powerful dragon of all and awakened to its boundary-manipulating abilities more powerful than my own; so powerful was it that its old name was forgotten and it simply came to be known as the 'Great Dragon' or 'Dragon God.'"

"Wow," Marisa said, "didn't realize the Great Dragon had ties to Izanagi himself."

"This 'Izanagi' sounds very powerful," Lillie noted.

"Well, he's the creator of Japan," Reimu explained, "he's basically the equivalent of Arceus in lesser interpretations of the Sinnoh creation myth. He created eight million gods and spirits and populated Japan with two people for each one Izanami threatened to kill. The Shinto mythos is vast; Patchy has a lot of books on the subject if you ever want to read up on it."

"I'll definitely consider it," Lillie said. "I feel like I would do better at my job if I knew the vast history behind this religion."

"Don't see how it would be of much use to 'ya now, if there's no actual Shinto gods in this world," Marisa quipped in between bites.

"Who knows, they may decide to all come here if Starlight doesn't do its job," Reimu joked.

Over in the corner was a TV replaying the events of earlier that day, and the news anchors all giving their comments on it.

"Man," Marisa sighed. "Still doesn't feel quite real."

"Well, it's been a busy couple of months," Reimu said. "They've given me more work than the past few years of my life combined."

"You said it. Honestly, filin' taxes is scarier than fighting Flandre was."

Reimu's eyes wandered as she focused on the other side of the room. On one end, Sasha was playing peekaboo with his two Popplio daughters who thought that him covering his face and then pretending to scare them was simply the best, while Adele waved a feather toy just out of reach of their Litten son. Lillie had managed to find trainers for them once they got a little older and could be away from their parents; no doubt they would be strong fighters given who their mom and dad were.

She looked back at Marisa. "How's everything at the mansion?"

"Buzzing with activity," Marisa said. "After that whole business in that ruined world, Patchy and Zinnia seem to have something going on; I knew Patchy like girls since I met her, but didn't think she'd hit it off with someone like Zinnia. The Casino's opening tomorrow night, so I'm gonna go to that, and Remy and Sakuya are floatin' a trip to Ryme City, although they didn't mention why."

Reimu rubbed her chin. "Casino, huh? Well, given Remilia's ability, I wouldn't be surprised if she used it to tempt people with riches and then yank it away from them."

"She ain't called the Scarlet Devil for no reason," Marisa chuckled. "She prolly also uses it to fix her real estate business."

"Isn't she worth like one trillion Pokedollars at this point?" Reimu asked.

"No clue, I just know she's good at makin' connections, good at doin' business, good at investing and even better at shady deals."

"I may or may not have given her some pointers over the past few decades," Yukari lightly smiled. "She has quite the aptitude. I pray she doesn't use it for ill."

"Oh please, Remilia may try to look evil and badass, but she's a huge softy and it's easy to get her riled up," Marisa laughed.

About an hour later, Marisa decided to head back home. She and Alice were getting ready to head off to school soon and needed time to get their stuff in order. Yukari offered to speed up moving Reimu into her new place in exchange for what was left of her alcohol that she was no longer allowed to drink. As Reimu got the last of her stuff in a corner, Yukari slumped.

"What's wrong?" Reimu asked.

Yukari looked at her. "So... it's true that your time, your family's time, maintaining the shrine has ended."

"Seems like it," Reimu noted.

"It's a huge moment!" Yukari insisted. "A thousand years of tradition, just like that! Does it not impress upon you?"

"Sometimes tradition needs to be broken," Reimu responded. "Progress doesn't happen if you don't do that, you know?"

Yukari looked down. "True..."

"Lillie will be a good shrine maiden. I just know it. You'll learn to treat her and lead her family like you led me."

"But it's just not the same," Yukari said. "There's no border of fantasy and reality to maintain, no balance between youkai and humans to uphold when faith is strong and everyone is accepting..." She shook her head. "I just don't know what my role here is anymore."

"You're on the island council, I'm sure that's a good job for someone like you. You're still helping to look after and maintain Gensokyo, even if it's not in the same way as before."

"Yes, but..." Yukari turned to the girls with a glum look.

"But what?" Reimu asked.

Yukari sighed. "I should tell you the rest of the story. I told you I was from Kalos originally, and how I come from a noble family. During the Great War, they were all killed, taken from me and my sister when we were only young girls. As a result of that traumatic experience, I grew to have what you would call... attachment issues."

"Guess that makes two of us that had our parents taken too soon," Reimu said.

"The reason I cared very deeply for Starlight, the reason I took Ran on as a shikigami, doted on and led generations of Hakureis, was because I had to cling onto _something._ I just couldn't function alone. I also feared death after being almost killed myself, so I used my ability to extend my life, only to be cast from the village where I lived for being a witch. I just... felt like a total outcast after that, that no one, nowhere, would accept me for who I am. That was the night when it happened: the moon brightened, and it gave birth to the first youkai, including myself. The reason I led a war against humans was to get back at the people that rejected me, but over time I grew to regret my decision, realizing that not all humans are bad; they were just scared of me and my abilities. At that point though I was too far into telling the youkai that humans were the enemy, so I just had to keep playing that game lest they reject me as well." Yukari's face fell onto the table, and she began sobbing lightly.

Reimu was touched. This was a side of Yukari she had never seen: not the youkai leader who concocted complex schemes and spoke in teases and riddles, but the person who had been through a number of traumatic experiences over the course of her long life, and whose psyche was affected by the loss of her family when she was a child. Her skills were genuine, but at the same time used to hide her weakness and loneliness.

As much as she didn't otherwise want to, Reimu couldn't help but give her a big hug.

"You don't have to run away anymore," she said softly. "You're back where you belong. No one's gonna reject you here, and the youkai are happier now than they were before."

Yukari sniffled, got back up, and gave a huge smile.

"Thank you," she said wiping a tear. "Have I told you you're mature beyond your years?"

"When you have to take care of yourself as a kid AND keep Marisa in line, I don't see how I wouldn't be," Reimu joked.

Yukari laughed. "I suppose you're right. She is quite the handful, even for me."

"So are you at times," Reimu said rolling her eyes. She got up. "But, dealing with you isn't my job anymore. Am I right, Lillie?"

Lillie smiled. "Yeah..."

Then it dawned on her.

"Wait, what?"

She turned her head to Yukari, hiding her coy smile behind her fan.

Lillie began to visibly sweat and blush. "Oh dear..."


	55. Epilogue

Things changed in Gensokyo after those first fateful couple of months. With the reborn shrine at the foot of the mountain, a bustling Gensokyo City and the hospitality of Alola and the Pokemon World in general, the youkai being accepted for who they were, and the overall mood of the place lifted, everyone knew a bright future lay ahead for the land, now known as Oma'Oma'O Island.

First, we should probably address what became of Starlight after the battle in Ultra Gensokyo, as well as Ultra Gensokyo itself. Starlight made good on its word to bring light to the dark Outside World; wherever it flew, forests regrew, the air was cleansed, mighty glaciers regained their majesty and plants and animals came back from the brink. Wars ended, dictatorships and authoritarian regimes crumbled to dust in the face of uprisings both peaceful and violent, corruption was exposed and gangs fell apart as justice retook the world. Human rights abuses ended as people came to accept their fellow man and woman. And humankind looked bravely ahead to the future, a future paved by technological advances, space travel and otherworldly colonization, and learning to live with the Earth instead of destroying it. Everywhere, people told tales of a shining beacon of hope in the sky, something for humankind to follow as their torch towards greatness. Every culture had their own explanation for it, be it the second coming of Jesus, the second coming of Allah, or the Buddha enlightening the world, but perhaps my favorite tale is that of the Snoqualmie People, who claimed it to be the work of the Transformer, Snoqualm, coming back to re-transform the world after it had fallen into disarray; fittingly, the tribe and other tribes across the Americas grew in influence soon after.

It wasn't just the people of Earth who benefited from Starlight's influence, however. On the Moon, the Moon Rabbits felt the power of their new and grand master, and soon gained the strength and hope of rebellion to overcome their Lunarian oppressors; what followed was a bloody and violent civil war as the Lunar Rabbit Corp turned on the Lunar Capital to take back what was theirs. Probably the turning point of the conflict was when Rei'sen, the Watatsuki sisters' pet rabbit commando, betrayed her masters at the cost of her own life so that they would die in an explosion that took out their mansion. She would be remembered as a martyr, celebrated by generations of Moon Rabbits long after her passing. After their deaths, Tsukiyomi broke down, and conceded defeat to the rabbits, taking the remaining Lunarians to an unknown location elsewhere in the Solar System. And with that, the rabbits celebrated their long-awaited independence and freedom, hailing their new master and celebrating with dango, mochi, booze, confetti in the streets, and the like.

And Ultra Gensokyo itself proved a bright land where forgotten legends could live again. Sure, some of the old problems would inevitably return, but never approached the old Gensokyo's fear, distrust and racism; the youkai were happy to live off of pranks and scares, and its population expanded to include all sorts of legends from across the world, from the Thunderbirds of Native American myth, to the Mokele-mbembe inhabiting the Misty Lake, Mantellodons in the wilds of the Youkai Forest, and even Scathach and Cu-Chulainn setting up shop near the Myouren Temple. Ultra Reimu, Ultra Marisa and Ultra Alice had a strong "three amigos" bond going on, spending lots of time together and vowing to put down incidents. And soon enough, paw prints found their way onto Ultra Reimu's clothes, as well as a slew of spirits from Hell; her first test was soon to come as a result.

Now, let's go back to Alola, and see how people there are doing:

* * *

"Now Sunshine, you'll be living with your uncle, Grandma and Grandpa while we're away, but you'll still be responsible for maintaining the house at least every week."

"Yes, mom," Sunshine said, taking her chore list.

Alice gave her another notebook. "These are instructions for maintaining and controlling the dolls. Make sure they see frequent use since they'll lose their enchantments if they're inactive for too long, and remember to patch up their clothes as needed."

Marisa looked up from her phone. "You're gonna be a busy kid, punkie. Trial Captain, Elite Four, school, house chores... heh, you don't really get a break do 'ya?"

"Yeah, but I'm not just some normal kid!" Sunshine smiled. "I'm me! I can do anything!"

"That's the spirit!" Marisa said patting her head. "Just don't work yourself 'till ya drop."

"I don't think that's possible," Gladion joked. "She flattened my team yesterday without breaking a sweat."

Just then, Lusamine and Mohn came up behind them, Mohn drinking coffee from a nearby stand and Lusamine reading a magazine.

"There 'ya are!" Marisa said. She looked around, then asked, "why ain't Lillie with you?"

Lusamine smiled. "She wanted to come today, but the shrine got an unexpected influx of visitors. She wanted us to tell you that she sends her best regards to both of you."

Marisa scratched her head. "Still, to think she'd be the new shrine maiden, with all the same powers and duties that Reimu had before... she's somethin' else, no way I could do that in a million years."

"I think it really suits her!" Mohn said. "The way she greets her visitors, conducts the ceremonies, she was made for it! Can't wait to visit her more often, make up for lost time."

Alice looked over at them. "It must be tough for your family; Lillie never knew either of you, since she grew up without you, so it's like she wouldn't really accept you as her father... just because she never had one before that. Or how you never got to see her grow up before she was already a teenager."

Mohn just smiled, as he always did. "I don't think that's it at all. The way I see it, better this than never seeing my family again. Sure, we lost time together, but we all got stronger because of this experience, grew a lot, and now we're back together. That just means we'll have to spend even more time together as a family. Plus, she already seems pretty happy to have me around."

"...I see," Alice said. "You have a very practical attitude."

"He used to be trouble though," Lusamine teased as she poked Mohn's cheek. "When I first met him, a campus officer was leading him out of a party in handcuffs because he got too loud and rowdy. He would always mix the strangest things into the punch bowl at parties, like 190-proof Sinnovian mountain liquor."

"That stuff's like battery acid, I don't know why anyone would drink it," Gladion chimed.

"Me neither," Lusamine said. "Anyway, I just knew he was a cute guy that I needed to keep out of trouble, so I did, and eventually we married."

"A heartwarming romance," Alice said dryly. "Now I know where Marisa gets her mannerisms from: _both_ of you." She smiled. "But, she's charming in her own way. Hard-working, kind deep down, keeps it real even if she is reckless at times." She looked to Marisa - looked _up_ at her, which she wasn't used to. "Still, this was a surprise."

"Tell me 'bout it, I wasn't quite expecting it myself." She looked down. "Still wish it could've gone all the way, though..." Everyone, including herself, laughed at that gripe.

Just then, a voice came on: "This is the call for all first-class passengers for Galarian Airways Flight 136. All first-class passengers, please begin boarding at this time."

Marisa sighed. "Guess that's us," she said. Before walking up, she gave everyone in her family a hug. "So soon after coming back to all 'ya, I'm off on my next misadventure."

"It'll be all good," Lusamine said. "Besides, it's only for a little while. And you can always call and video chat!"

Calling, video chats... all newfangled stuff Marisa wasn't used to, and neither was Alice. But, eh, she could manage somehow.

"Thanks mom." After that, she and Alice waved goodbye as they walked up to the platform, then past the doors to the waiting plane outside.

A single tear shed from Mohn's eye.

"Our little girl's all big now," he said.

"And so is our little boy," Lusamine smiled. "He runs the Aether Foundation now."

"Oh please," Gladion blushed. "I only did it because you two were talking about buying those islands off the shore of Akala someplace so you could make it a Pokemon nature reserve."

"Me and your father just wanted a way to spend time together after so long, and running the Aether Foundation is a job and a half. I was going to leave it to one of the senior scientists, but you just stepped up and asked to do it yourself!"

"I-" Gladion stammered, still blushing. "I just wanted to prove I could carry on the family business so I could take care of ya both!" Now, even he was slipping into the rough accent his sisters had.

"And you were very nice for doing it," Mohn said. "At least you have have help, in both little Sunshine here and..."

Suddenly Gladion was glomped from behind by Selene, spooking him. He turned around, and she had a box in her hand.

"Pocky?" she asked, taking one out of the box.

"Uh... sure," Gladion said. He reached out, before Selene put the pocky in her mouth and hid the box behind her. Confused, Gladion pointed at the box, but Selene shook her head, and held out her face, the pocky sticking out of her mouth.

After a moment's hesitation, Gladion smirked.

"...oh, alright," he said, and the two pocky-kissed.

* * *

_*snap*_

_*snap*_

_*snap*_

A Rotom camera whizzed around Aya, posing in designer clothes in front of a railing with the beach in the background. After the shoot, she looked over to Hatate, who was managing the shoots and working on booking their next flight out to Kanto.

"You know," Aya said, "when we came to this world, I thought I was going to get a lot of juicy scoops and stories. I never thought I was going to be the story."

"But why wouldn't you be?" Hatate said, enthusiastically pointing to pictures from a magazine that had black-and-white pin-ups of Aya in it. "With a body like that, and crow wings, no way people don't see you as an exotic beauty!"

Aya blushed as she looked away. Sure, she got a lot of compliments, she had surprising talent, and she could see the world...

...actually, this might not be such a bad thing, she thought. She realized she could have all sorts of fun doing this. And, as she always told people, a person who befriends a photographer lives forever. Perhaps she should have gotten Marisa or someone else drunk and in a Santa costume years ago.

* * *

The G-Zero racers were all lined up on the starting line, and the racer's Pokemon ready to do battle with each other. Around them, searing arcs of flame, miniature suns orbiting the track, and off in the distance, a shiny Charizard sitting on a rock pinnacle, roaring and declaring its territory.

Zinnia sat ready, anxiously awaiting the sound of the starting horn. On her dash, a picture of her and Patchy posing in front of Dialga, Palkia and Giratina, a memento from that crazy experience in the other world, now saved because of their's and Sunshine's effort.

Soon, a figure carrying a black-and-white checkered flag lowered down, bearing wide raven wings and a starry cape, a black, slick-shiny leotard high-cut and with a long neck exposing a demonic red eye on her chest, long black hair tied with a green bow and an orange control rod on her arm. Oh, and about the IQ of a grilled cheese sandwich.

Sitting in the stands, Satori wondered aloud, "still can't believe Okuu of all people would become a race queen, or that they would convert this area into a racetrack."

"Look how badass she looks though," Orin said through a mouthful of her second corn dog with ketchup. "And you gotta admit, she has a lotta sex appeal going for her. That's how you get the crowd pumped up!"

Satori wasn't sure how to process the term "sex appeal" as applied to Okuu, her pet. She turned to her other side. "What do you think?"

Lowering her soda, Koishi said, "I think she's cute!"

Satori smiled. "...yeah, she is." The two sisters then hugged as the horn sounded and the racers went off.

* * *

"Are you sure this is okay, Matara-sama?"

Okina shook her head. "I am certain. Any longer under my control and you two would have lost your humanity forever. I mean, by the time we came here you two were practically acting like robots!"

Satano and Mai shuffled their feet about; they had been in her service for so long it was practically their identity to serve as extensions of her power and will. Now, they were being released into a world they didn't know, having not really matured much more than when Okina had cast her spell on them when they were sixteen.

Mai nervously looked around; both of them were dressed in school uniforms, and behind them was the largest private high school (well, the only one) in Alola. Buried in their bags underneath books and pencils, were one Pokeball each containing carefully-chosen starters for their Trainer classes. Okina wanted the best for them, and also expected a lot from them: despite technically releasing them from her control, she still assumed the role of their guardian and found a little house nestled off of Route 2 for the three of them to live in. She had no need for dancers anymore; she instead wanted to transition from being a "hidden goddess" to enjoying the slow life that Alola offered, and wanted the girls to go off and live bright futures now.

"What if we get bullied?" Satano asked.

"Then I'll just have to set them straight," Okina remarked. "One does not simply trifle a hidden god like me."

Mai looked at some of the descriptions for their classes, which included Pre-Calc, Chemistry, History, Language & Literature, Living Skills, and of course Pokemon Battles; she also signed them up for Dancing in Fall, Gymnastics in Winter, and Track in Spring.

"This stuff looks hard... can we really do it?"

"I provided both of you the prerequisite knowledge to do well in your studies. I trust you will complete them and be diligent in completing your coursework with perfect scores."

Satano and Mai both nodded. They served Okina's will for so long; they'd be damned if they failed her now.

"We'll do our best!" They said in unison.

"That's the spirit!" Okina smiled and clapped. She looked on as the two girls held hands and took on their first classes with their head held high.

It was enough to bring tears to the old girl's eyes.

* * *

"That's not where that bust goes, yo!" yelled one of the grunts. "I took it from over there, see?!"

"I'm just cleaning it off over here; it's cramped over there and there's nowhere to sit!"

"Stop sitting on the job, yo! Boss lady's gonna be all over us if she catches us slackin' off!"

All over the mansion, kids who were former Team Skull Grunts, dressed in butler and maid outfits, busily shuffled around, dusting off cabinets, vacuuming the floors, leading Garbodors around and having them eat trash, washing dishes and clothes, making beds, cleaning the bathrooms and fixing the plumbing. As they did, Sakuya went around with a clipboard, directing their actions, checking off items, and making touch-ups as needed. Of course, even with all the hired help, only she had the honor of being able to make tea for the Mistress, who was no doubt clacking away in her home office while managing her real-estate business.

Eventually, Sakuya came into Remilia's office with two cups of tea. "I got you some more tea."

Remilia got up from her desk, revealing her tall, thin yet full figure in a form-fitting suit and business skirt, pantyhose and black shiny shoes, painted red fingernails, wavy blue hair and alluring red eyes. "Thank you, Sakuya." She pulled up another chair for the head maid and sat it across from her leather computer chair. "Have a seat."

Sakuya sat down, took a sip, and started conversing with her boss. "I never realized you had such a talent for business."

"How do you think I've been making all my money for the past century or so?" she asked. "Surely you didn't think my family fortune was that vast, did you?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Exactly," Reimilia said, taking a sip. "Plus, this and the Casino are two professions that lean heavily on fate." She turned around to look out the massive glass window looking out across to the Scarlet Devil Casino on the other side of the bay. "Knowing the market and when to buy and sell is what separates good real-estate brokers from bad ones, and making profits off of a casino is all down to the roll of the dice, the spin of the wheel, the will of the cards, and ensuring the odds are always in favor of the house." She strung golden strings with her fingers. "Leading one down the path of success and tempting them with a big win, then yanking it from them at the last minute... yet letting some others have it to tempt others to pursue riches dangling in front of them on a fishing line. Selling off a house at the peak of its value with the promise of even greater value down the road, right before a flood hits, or the market crashes... I have the tools to win which most others do not." Remilia spoke in a riddlesome tone of voice, and it scared Sakuya just how controlled and calculating her mistress could be when she wanted to.

Sakuya looked behind her, through the open door and out to the hallway where grunts could be seen running around. "Still, it's hard to believe. About all they do is dance the entire time they work... and they're still at least a hundred times more useful than the fairy maids ever were." She looked back at Remilia. "It feels strange, actually having time off and merely directing their actions, doing their payroll, making sure their room and board is kept up, and not doing the work myself all the time..."

"They lived in poverty before," Remilia said. "And now, they have the opportunity to live and work in this luxurious mansion, but most of all they're grateful to have real work and not resort to theft and drug-dealing." She took another sip. "You mentioned time off. I presume you'll have time to accompany me on my trip to Ryme City in a couple of weeks?"

"Of course," Sakuya nodded. "I've already filled them in on what to do in my absence."

"Good," Reimila said. She looked out the door. "And what of the hobgoblins?"

Sakuya looked back out the door, and saw a Grimmsnarl rallying a group of Morgrems.

"It would seem they're forming a union, m'lady," she said primly. Then, a few seconds later, she sniffed the air. "By the way, are you sure the contractors got that hydrogen leak fixed?"

"I checked and double-checked," Reimila said, saving her work. "They said that the leak is fixed, and as far as I can tell there are no punctures in the pipes or gaps in the coupling." As she was saying that, a Chandelure wandering the halls felt that then would be the perfect time to flare up in search of its children.

Taking a break on the beach, Tenshi jerked around suddenly when she heard an explosion, and saw two figures falling out of a window with flames belching out of it.

* * *

Standing alone on a rock cliff overlooking the sea, stood a very tall man in disheveled clothes. Floating by his side, a Floette with a rare, red flower.

Some called him AZ, and most assumed he was a strange, babbling beggar who wandered the world in search of someplace that would accept him.

The truth was, he was the king of Kalos 3000 years ago, the creator of the Ultimate Weapon which ended the war. One side effect of the weapon, which used Pokemon souls as its fuel, was that it irradiated him with life energy, making him effectively immortal. However, humans were never meant to live forever; now, having now outlived everyone he ever knew, and unwilling to form attachments to those whose lives came and went in a flash from his perspective, he felt alone and rejected in this world.

"...king Francois?" came a female voice behind him.

AZ thought for a moment. King Francois... that was a name he had not heard in a long, long time. Just who in this present day would address him in such a way?

So, he turned around, his eyes meeting a blonde beauty in a violet dress, piercing golden eyes, and a parasol in her gloved hands.

"...who are you?" his scratchy, old voice asked.

Yukari smiled. "The lost daughter of Lord Cloud, leader of the youkai and back in this realm after three-thousand years." Walking up behind her was a pink-haired woman in a strange blue gown, along with her white-haired sword-wielding bodyguard gardener.

Yukari hid her face behind a fan. "Not only am I alive, but perhaps the only other person from that time still walking this world."

AZ could not believe it: Violet Cloud, whom everyone back then had given up for dead, was now before him alive and well, and in no way worse for looks even after thousands of years, having grown into quite the hyper-intelligent schemer with a big heart during that time.

The man's hands were still as he looked at her eyes in a mixture of disbelief and joy... that now, someone from his past had found him again.

* * *

Professor Kukui looked up at the now-vacated loft in his shack, and couldn't help but feel a hole in his life where Lillie had been before.

But, deep down, the professor knew he did good in leading those three kids down the path of adventure, one which brought people together, a whole land here to Alola, and which allowed everyone to rediscover something about themselves. Now, Lillie was in the best possible position, able to live with her family reunited, her mother well and sound, and commanding the powers of an ancient shrine while swearing to uphold its order.

"Reminiscing?" Burnet asked him.

"You bet it, babe," he said.

Burnet smiled. "You know she was only here a short time."

"Yeah," Kukui said, "and yet it's like she'd been here even longer."

Burnet dug something out of her purse. "Well, I bet that loft won't be staying empty for too long."

"...hm?" Kukui wondered. Then, he saw what was in Burnet's hands:

A positive pregnancy test.

With a big grin stretching across his face, Kukui hugged his wife, and she hugged him back. "Ahahahaha! We did it! Yes!" he exclaimed, the joy in his voice impossible to describe with normal words.

* * *

Other scenes played out across Alola: on Melemele, Guzma reconnected with his father, after years of being estranged from him. Similarly, not long after the newscast, Hau received a call from his father, the first time he had heard from him in years, congratulating him on his achievement.

Things were hustling and bustling on Oma'Oma'O as well: the new trial system was set up in only a week, and from then on became a required leg of the Island Challenge, with many trainers choosing to do it last. Elsewhere on the island, the Myouren Temple opened its doors to those wishing to seek personal peace and enlightenment, and also ran a kung-fu program on the side. Keine's schoolhouse expanded considerably into a campus catering to all grades, and even had an on-premises community college program; it remained the only school on the island aside from the ones the kappa and tengu maintained on their own, since few people on the island lived far from Gensokyo City. Eirin moved her practice to the city as well, becoming well-known for her and her staff's unmatched level of healthcare. The island also attracted outdoor enthusiasts looking to explore its rugged wilds and unspoiled beaches. And the Kirisame Shrine thrived, attracting everything from people looking for battles to meditating monks to those seeking wishes for next year be granted. Lillie took to the job like a glove to a hand, her transferred knowledge and power from Reimu allowing her to run the place like a pro, and she had also hired help, including Selene so that she had a job while living with Gladion. Between that and her studies, she was quite the busy girl, and in time Hau asked Hala if he could go live with her to provide some extra help...

And on Ula'Ula, atop the tallest of Alola's peaks, was the league where the Grand Kahuna herself, Reimu Hakurei, awaited challengers hoping to end their Island Trial by besting her in battle and etching theirs and their Pokemon's names into the Hall of Fame. Even while holding back, she was known for being ludicrously difficult. Simply making it to her required a level of skill, strength and bonding with one's Pokemon that weeded out all but the best of the best, and two years after she had ascended to the throne only a dozen or so names were in the Alola Hall of Fame. Needless to say, she got a steady stream of trainers wanting to rematch her until they finally won, and some did so more than once.

On this day, a man wearing a striped blue-and-white shirt and khaki shorts came up the steps to challenge her. Normally, this was the point at which she would arise from her throne and greet the trainer with a grandiose speech congratulating their coming this far, before subjecting them to the full brutality of her team. But this trainer, one she had seen many times, wasn't like most trainers.

"Back for more, huh?" she said in a sarcastic tone. Rising up, she walked toward Elio, before stopping across from and facing him.

"You bet it," Elio said tipping his hat.

"You know, you seem to like coming all the way up here just for some punishment," Reimu smirked.

"It's only punishment if you don't enjoy it," Elio retorted. "And only if you don't win."

"That's what I like about you... always wishing to grow stronger by challenging opponents tougher than yourself, and how much you devote yourself to it." Reimu looked at an app on her phone which kept a tally. "Let's see... looks like we're 9-and-9 so far."

"I'm here for my tenth win," Elio boasted.

Reimu scoffed playfully. "More like your tenth loss, as I've decided not to hold back going forward."

"Then," Elio replied grabbing a Pokeball, "I won't either." Swiftly, he tossed it out, and out emerged Zekrom, crashing onto the ground and roaring at the sky while crackling with electricity.

Reimu snickered. "Hmhmhm... going for the big guns already, I see?" She then threw out her own Pokemon, the freezing fire dragon known as White Kyurem, bellowing and brimming with fire and icy wind.

The two trainers locked eyes for a moment, before Elio looked up. It was night. The sky was clear, and the full moon glowed like a pearl in the stars above.

"The moon is beautiful tonight," he said.

Reimu smiled. "So it is..."

Then, casting out her staff, she commanded, "Kyurem, burn it to cinders!"

"Zekrom, shock the life out of it!"

The two dragons dashed toward each other, locking horns as they began their violent struggle.

* * *

"...and that's how me and your father met, Haruki."

Haruki sat on the floor wide-eyed, his mother having just told the entire story of the incident so long ago to him. Behind her, the picture taken on coronation day was framed on the wall, set above a sleek cabinet and visible when one came in the front door.

"Wow, mom, you guys are amazing! You just beat the monster up like that!"

Reimu gently patted his head. "Now, now, there's more to being a hero than just beating up monsters, you know. You have to help people out as well. That's what I did, after all."

"But still!" Haruki said excitedly. "When I grow up, I wanna be just as cool as you, mom!"

Reimu smiled. "I'm sure you will, Haruki. You're our son, after all. Who knows, maybe you'll go out and solve your own incidents someday. You are a Hakurei by blood, you have generations of warriors living in you and watching over you."

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Reimu said.

Through the door came a smartly-dressed blonde woman with a single braid on the left side of her hair, and a doll floating just behind her. "Alola!" she waved.

Reimu got up from her chair and went over to hug her friend. "Alola, Marisa! You're here early!"

"Well, Alice wouldn't shut up about makin' sure we were on time, so here we are!" Marisa said stepping back.

Reimu chuckled. "Well, you're not the most punctual person in the world, I'll give her that. By the way," she looked around, "where is she?"

"Eh?" Marisa eyed the doll behind her. "Well, she got kinda nervous 'bout all the people who are gonna be here, so she made herself a doll so that everyone wouldn't embarass her-"

Alice thwacked Marisa on the head. "Ow!" Marisa complained. "Did 'ya have to do that?"

"Oh you two," Reimu joked. "You never change." She turned around to the kitchen. "Hey honey, how are the rolls coming along?"

Elio popped his head out, "just about done."

"Ok, good." She faced the two again. "Hey Alice, why don't you go help set the tables? I want to talk to Marisa for a bit. You go help her too, Haruki." Alice and Haruki nodded before flying into the back patio to set the plates and silverware. Once they were alone, Reimu and Marisa got to visiting.

"So," Reimu said, "I hear something big happened recently."

"Sure did!" Marisa boasted. "After running one of my experiments, my body started glowin', and before I knew it I was a true Magician!"

Reimu crossed her arms and glared at Marisa for a minute...

...before slapping her back and giving a hearty laugh.

"You know, if this were twenty-two years ago, I would have had to exterminate you. But, that's not my concern now. And even then, I don't think I would have really done it. Maybe make you fake your death, but that's about it."

Marisa huffed. "Phew, I thought I was toast there."

"For real though, congratulations. I bet it was a tough road."

"Eh, no challenge too big for me," Marisa said. "Now I can stick it to Patchy and everyone else!"

"I see, I see..." Reimu studied Marisa and saw the subtle wrinkles on her face and skin. "Still, you don't look at all younger than me."

"You know me, I've never been vain," Marisa said. "I wanted to stay forty to prove to myself and everyone else that it took me exactly until forty for get this far."

"Alright," Reimu said teasingly, "then explain the implants."

"H-HEY!" Marisa shouted, blushing. "I told you these ain't no implants!"

"I thought you just said you weren't vain."

"S-shut up!" Marisa turned away while Reimu gave a hearty laugh at her friends displeasure.

"Hah... yeah," Reimu said stifling her laugh, before looking around again. "By the way, wasn't Sunshine supposed to be here?"

"Oh, her? Yeah, she was supposed to, but someone at the tournament in Driftveil called in sick, so she's filling in for them."

"How is she doing these days? I mean, with being the lead coordinator of the World Tournament?"

"'s two jobs and a half," Marisa explained. "Eighteen hour days, teleporting all over the place to make sure everything's runnin' smoothly, kid's workin' overtime but she does it with a smile and better than any human ever could."

"Glad to hear that. And yourself?"

"Well, the Magic Shop's profits last quarter are up 20%, since there was a Hex Maniac convention in Gensokyo last month. And my boss is talkin' about promoting me to division head at the pharma lab. I don't work half as hard as Sunshine does and I still work like six days a week."

"Well, magicians don't sleep," Reimu noted. "I bet they'll use that as an excuse to give you worse hours," she joked.

"They do that, I'm putting a hex on them so they slip on banana peels every other day and have Fennekins stealin' their toilet paper."

"Going the passive-aggressive route, are we?"

"I've calmed down ever since Aya and Sanae." The two ladies laughed, reliving that vivid memory.

Another knock on the door, and in came in Hau, Lillie and their daughter Mizuki.

"Oh, hey!" Reimu greeted.

"Alola!" Hau smiled. The man still made Reimu dote on him, even though he was now much taller than Lillie and a definite hunk compared to his relatively modest wife. Surely all those malasadas paid off in the end.

"Hi, auntie Mari!" Mizuki cheered.

"Hey there!" Marisa said, rubbing Mizuki's head. She looked up to Lillie. "Hey, lil' sis! How're things goin' with you two?"

"Excellent," Lillie replied. "We just got back from visiting Hau's father."

"Yeah..." Reimu trailed off, before asking Hau, "how are things going between you two? I mean, ever since Hala's funeral last year?"

"Things are goin' pretty good," Hau said. "He's holding down a job as a bus driver, and my half-sister has a wedding coming up."

"Well, that's good," Reimu said. "I've been worrying about you ever since the funeral, since Hala did raise you."

"I knew it was coming for a while anyway. I had time to prepare myself for it. Now my dad, it really hit my dad since he regretted all the things he did in the past and wanted to make it up to gramps."

"Guilt's a hard thing to live with," Reimu admitted. "At least you took up the Kahuna mantle from him, so he still lives in you."

"Yup," Hau said, "every time I battle, I feel like Gramps is watching me."

Marisa cut in, "well, enough doom and gloom. We're here to have fun tonight, we got all our friends here, and most importantly, I'm gonna beat everyone at Bunco!"

"Not if I can help it!" Hau dared.

Marisa then asked Lillie, "by the way, mom and dad comin'?"

"They're going to be a little late," Lillie said, "a Sandaconda got loose on Isle Aplenny that they had to wrangle, but they should be on their way."

A third knock came, and Reimu let in more guests: Gladion, Selene, and their son Yu, who was quick to go hug his cousin Mizuki, then Reimu.

"Hey there!" Gladion waved.

"You made it!" Marisa said. "I didn't think you would!"

"It was slow enough at Aether that I just left it to everyone and we could come here," he said.

Marisa did her best to stand out. "Y'all notice anything different about me?"

Gladion studied her for a bit, then said, "your skirt is 3 cm shorter than yesterday."

Marisa scowled. "That ain't it." She then produced a glass, filled it from water from her fingertips, then froze some of the water into ice cubes before taking a sip. "I'm just like Alice and Patchy now!"

"Ah, I see... so you're a shut-in?"

"NO!" Marisa shouted. Gladion of course already knew she was a Magician, he was just giving her a hard time for the heck of it. Reimu chuckled at these adult siblings going at it like the kids they were, before feeling a sudden hug.

"Aunt Reimu!" Yu said.

"Hey," Reimu smiled. "Good to see you."

Yu looked around. "Where's Haruki?"

"He's in the back, setting the tables. Would you like to go help him?"

"Sure!" And so Yu and Mizuki bounded into the back to meet their cousin; of course Haruki and Mizuki weren't technically cousins, but they treated each other like cousins anyway.

Just as the kids left, other guests started coming in, including Acerola (who recently became Ula'Ula's Kahuna) and the other Kahunas and their spouses, Sanae in particular came with her husband while leaving their son and daughter with a friend; Guzma, Plumeria and a few other former Team Skull members; Yukari, Kasen, Okina, and Satano and Mai along with the latter two's spouses; Elio and Selene's family including their parents and a couple of cousins; Patchy & Zinnia, Remilia and Sakuya who came to congratulate Marisa; the Eientei crew minus Kaguya whose trainer was halfway across the world; a couple of Myourens, the Komeiji sisters and their pets; Toyosatomimi no Miko who came alone for unknown reasons; Tenshi and Shion; Yuyuko and Yomou; Suika, Sukuna and Yuugi; Kosuzu and Akyuu along with their spouses; Mamizou, Nue and Kokoro who had come back from Galar with her husband Hop; and Cynthia made it as well. Eventually Mohn and Lusamine arrived, apologizing for their lateness.

With the guest list now nearly crossed of, Reimu looked up and said, "we're still missing a couple..."

"Save the best for last!" came a voice, before Kukui and Burnet made their way in, along with a shy girl in a lab coat and glasses.

"Hey, professor!" Reimu called out.

Kukui shook his head. "Oh, I'm not the professor anymore, cousin. I retired." He turned around to the girl, who was his and Burnet's daughter Beverly. "Everyone, say hi to Professor Kukui!"

Beverly waved while saying weakly, "h-hi..."

"Nice to see ya!" Marisa bellowed out. Before the young woman could be "broken in" by Marisa, Elio shouted out saying dinner was ready.

"Alright, everyone! Hand sanitizer's by the back door, remember to wash up!" Reimu said, clapping her hands.

Reimu and Elio sunk a lot of time into this dinner, whose main course was a whole Tauros that Elio butchered up himself; the bull had enough meat on it to feed everyone there with plenty to spare. Reimu hand-crafted rice balls, sushi, and other traditional Japanese staples, along with salad, steamed veggies and rolls; there was plenty of wine and sake to go around as well. Their cooking received universal praise from everyone, and the meal itself was exquisite for someone who used to be so poor she joked about eating dirt and worms.

Once dinner was over, the kids helped the adults clean up, and re-make the tables so that they were ready for the main event: a Bunco tournament. Everyone had paid 5,000 Pokedollars to be here, and the prize pot would be paid out to the top three. This, of course, got everyone into hardcore competitive mode.

"That pot is mine!" Marisa said.

"I could by sooooo much sake with this money!" Suika claimed.

"Money is immaterial to me, but I shall best all of you commoners," Reimilia primly taunted.

Reimu clenched her fist, and smirked. "Well, I'm the Grand Kahuna! I'm gonna show all of you what royalty really is!"

With that, all the adults rushed out the back door, leaving the kids and Beverly behind in the living room.

"Well," Beverly said to them, "while the adults are doing their tournament, mind if I keep you company?"

Yu kicked around. "How can you do that?"

"The first day of summer vacation is tomorrow, and you all are starting your Island Challenge, I've been told. So," she produced three Pokeballs, threw them at once, and out came a Rowlet, a Litten, and a Popplio. Each of the three kids looked at the Pokemon, who were eyeing their potential new owners, and already thinking about the adventures they would go on with them.

"I'll let the Grand Kahuna's boy get first pick," Beverly said.

"Aw, no fair!" Mizuki pouted. "Why does he get special treatment?"

Beverly laughed it off, while Haruki studied each of the three starters carefully. After a minute, he made his decision.

"Alright, I've got it. I choose..."


End file.
